For all the Middle America street cred he once commanded, Vice President JD Vance has turned into a disappointing tool for power.

He and I were reared in the same Ohio steel town, a generation apart, and that once gave me a soft spot for him. But I was appalled last week by the way he dodged a straightforward question about President Donald Trump’s so-called “anti-weaponization fund.”

That’s the $1.776 billion kitty the Justice Department just set up to pay off Trump loyalists who have gotten in trouble with the law, including those who stormed the U.S. Capitol in 2021.

At a news briefing on Tuesday, CNN reporter Kaitlan Collins put a hard question to Vance: “You previously told me that anyone who assaulted a police officer on Jan. 6 should go to prison. So why not rule out giving them taxpayer-funded money?”

“Well, Kaitlan,” Vance replied. “What I said is we’re gonna look at everything case by case.”

“Why not rule it out?”

“Because, Kaitlan, there are people who, I don’t know their individual circumstances, and I don’t rule things out categorically when I know nothing about a person’s individual circumstances,” Vance said.

Alas, moments like this tell me that my fellow product of Middletown has picked up one of the worst traits of the administration he serves: a deceitfulness that becomes more smug the more obvious the truth is being denied.

The Jan. 6 rioters assaulted the Capitol in an attempt to interfere with the constitutional transfer of presidential power. Some brutally attacked the police officers protecting the Capitol and were subsequently arrested, tried, convicted and sentenced — before Trump took power again and pardoned them.

U.S. Capitol Police officers receive medical treatment after clashes with protesters who attempt to disrupt the joint session of Congress to certify the Electoral College vote on Jan. 6, 2021. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call)

A demonstrator talks to police over a barrier, Jan. 6, 2021, at the Capitol in Washington. (John Minchillo/AP)

Trump supporters interact with Capitol Police inside the U.S. Capitol Building on Jan. 6, 2021, in Washington. (Win McNamee/Getty)

A mob supporting U.S. President Donald Trump breaks into the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, in Washington. (Win McNamee/Getty)

Trump supports attempt to breach the door of the U.S. Capitol Building on Jan. 6, 2021, in Washington. (Tasos Katopodis/Getty)

Erin Schaff/The New York TimesPeople protesting the presidential election results inside the Capitol in Washington on Jan. 6, 2021.

John Minchillo / AP/APTrump supporters participated in a rally on Jan. 6, 2021, in Washington.

Jon Cherry/Getty ImagesTrump supporters gather in front of the U.S. Capitol Building on Jan. 6, 2021, in Washington.

Joseph Prezioso / Getty-AFPA man calls on people to raid the building as Trump supporters clash with police and security forces as they try to storm the Capital Building in Washington, D.C., on January 6, 2021.

Win McNamee/Getty ImagesA Trump supporter sits in the Senate Chamber on Jan. 6, 2021, in Washington.

Jose Luis Magana / APRioters loyal to President Donald Trump rally at the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Jan. 6, 2021.

John Minchillo/APTrump supporters try to break through a police barrier, Jan. 6, 2021, at the Capitol in Washington.

JOSEPH PREZIOSO/AFP via Getty ImagesTrump supporters clash with police and security forces as they try to storm the U.S. Capitol in Washington.

Lev Radin/Pacific PressRioters clash with police using a big ladder to try to enter the U.S. Capitol building through the front doors.

Andrew Harnik/APSen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., stops to look at the damage in the early morning hours of Jan. 7, 2021, after protesters stormed the Capitol in Washington.

Amanda Voisard/for The Washington PostCongressional staff members are evacuated by the Capitol Police after protestors breached the U.S. Capitol interrupting a joint congressional session to certify the Electoral College vote in Washington on Jan. 6, 2021.

Joe Raedle / Getty ImagesMembers of the D.C. National Guard walk behind a fence placed around the U.S. Capitol building on Jan. 8, 2021, in Washington. Democratic congressional leaders threatened to impeach President Donald Trump for encouraging a mob that stormed the Capitol Building on Wednesday.

Brendan Smialowski / Getty-AFPWorkers clean damage near an overrun Capitol Police checkpoint a day after a pro-Trump mob broke into the U.S. Capitol Jan. 7, 2021, in Washington.

Jose Luis Magana/APTrump supporters break TV equipment outside the the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, in Washington, during a chaotic protest aimed at thwarting a peaceful transfer of power.

Brendan Smialowski / Getty-AFPA worker cleans broken glass from one of the entrances to the U.S. Capitol after a pro-Trump mob broke into the building during protests the previous day Jan. 7, 2021, in Washington, D.C.

Saul Loeb / Getty-AFPA supporter of President Donald Trump sits inside the office of Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi as he protest inside the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C, Jan. 6, 2021.

Saul Loeb / Getty-AFPSupporters of President Donald Trump protest in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda on January 6, 2021, in Washington, DC.

Alex Wong/Getty ImagesMembers of U.S. Capitol Police inspect a damaged entrance of the U.S. Capitol, Jan. 7, 2021 in Washington.

SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty ImagesSupporters of President Donald Trump enter the U.S. Capitol as tear gas fills the corridor on Jan. 6, 2021, in Washington, D.C.

Brent Stirton/Getty ImagesA protester dressed as George Washington debates with a Capitol Police before being pushed out.

Samuel Corum/GettyThe bust of U.S. President........

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