No, JD Vance will not be our first “Chad” president.

The vice president shared a series of photographs to X Monday showing himself valiantly running physical training drills with Navy Seals at Base Coronado, in California. Vance was photographed running down the beach, carrying a heavy log, climbing a large cargo net, and even rowing. Another set of photographs showed him speaking with officers, and posing for a photograph in front of a large American flag.

“They took it easy on me and I still feel like I got hit by a freight train,” Vance wrote on X, recapping his 90-minute PT session. “So grateful to all of our warriors who keep us safe and keep the highest standards anywhere in the world!” Vance previously served a four-year stint in the public affairs section in the 2nd Marine Aircraft.

Obviously, Vance’s critics were not impressed.

“Cool, man—but when you’re done cosplaying, can you and your boss do something about housing and grocery prices? Thanks,” Mike Nellis, a Democratic strategist, wrote on X.

“It’s the middle of the workday. While Americans are grinding to make Christmas work, the vice president is burning taxpayer dollars pretending to be a Navy SEAL,” Christopher Hale, a former Democratic congressional candidate, wrote on X.

Even Vance couldn’t help but make fun of himself. He shared an edited version of the photograph that included his bloated, meme-ified face.

“Fixed it,” he wrote on X.

It’s not entirely clear what prompted Vance’s recent cosplaying adventure. Perhaps it has something to do with his recent presidential endorsement from Erika Kirk, a closely-held friend of the vice president. Or maybe it has something to do with his slipping poll numbers.

A recent survey by AtlasIntel found that while Vance was still the leading pick to become the Republican nominee in 2028, a majority of Republicans no longer support him. Only 46.7 percent of respondents said they would pick Vance over other figures, down from 54.6 percent in a September poll.

Meanwhile, a straw poll taken by Fox News at Turning Point USA’s Amerifest this past weekend found that 84.2 percent of respondents said they would like to see Vance as the Republican nominee in 2028, with Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis trailing far behind him. In order to claim the full support of MAGA, it seems Vance may have decided it’s time to prove himself more than a sniveling debate kid.

The Justice Department is now downplaying the Epstein files they took so long to release by claiming that they’re full of “untrue and sensationalist claims made against President Trump.” 

“The Department of Justice has officially released nearly 30,000 more pages of documents related to Jeffrey Epstein,” the DOJ wrote Tuesday on X. “Some of these documents contain untrue and sensationalist claims made against President Trump that were submitted to the FBI right before the 2020 election. To be clear: the claims are unfounded and false, and if they had a shred of credibility, they certainly would have been weaponized against President Trump already.”

“Nevertheless, out of our commitment to the law and transparency, the DOJ is releasing these documents with the legally required protections for Epstein’s victims.”

While there certainly is some uncorroborated information in the files, there is also a wealth of new, possibly incriminating evidence about President Trump. One file contains an email from an assistant U.S. attorney from January 2020 that reads, “For your situational awareness, wanted to let you know that the flight records we received yesterday reflect that Donald Trump traveled on Epstein’s private jet many more times than has previously been reported.”  

Another file contained a 2019 letter from Epstein addressed to “L.N.” or Larry Nassar, the former U.S. gymnastics team doctor convicted of sexually abusing scores of women and girls.

“As you know by now, I have taken the ‘short route’ home,” Epstein wrote, appearing to reference his later death by suicide. “Good luck! We shared one thing… our love and caring for young ladies and the hope they’d reach their full potential. Our president also shares our love of young, nubile girls. When a young beauty walked by he loved to ‘grab snatch,’ whereas we ended up snatching grub in the mess halls of the system. Life is unfair,” he said, signing off “J. Epstein.” 

Even as more information rolls in, it should come as no surprise that the Justice Department—which has been completely subservient to the president—continues to provide cover for him even as they release the heavily redacted files. 

“‘We’re releasing the documents, but please know in advance they’re fake, irrelevant, already debunked, totally harmless, and also........

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