‘Where’s JD Vance?’: Donald Trump’s vice president mysteriously missing from a photo of dumb, dumber, and dumbest

It seems JD Vance is already on the outs with Donald Trump, and the pair haven’t even taken their oaths of office yet.

Vance was always seen as an eyebrow-raising choice for the Trump ticket, but past the eyeliner, ceaseless jokes about couches, and his former status as a “never Trump guy,” Vance somehow managed to secure a position as this nation’s next vice president. He’ll be headed into the White House alongside the new Criminal-in-Chief in just a few short months, but he seems to be on the outside of Trump’s tight-knit inner circle.

This is anything but a typical presidential cabinet, and we’re already seeing just how strange the incoming administration is set to be. Trump’s incoming team thus far consists of a roadkill-eating, whale-beheading madman, a spineless maybe-predator who was openly investigated by a governmental ethics committee, and a petulant internet troll masquerading as a 53-year-old man. As the list of cabinet picks grows, so too does America’s anxiety, as we realize just how unhinged the incoming administration is set to be.

Somehow, JD Vance is among the more coherent members of Trump’s new team. He’s an idiot, to be sure, but he’s an idiot with his head on mostly straight, which is a major departure from the likes of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Elon Musk, and Matt Gaetz. That clarity seems to biting the 40-year-old in the backside, unfortunately, as Trump increasingly distances himself from sane and crawls into bed with lunatics and certifiable psychos.

The growing distance between Vance and Trump was on full display in a recent snapshot of the 78-year-old president-elect on a plane, surrounded by his new favorite people. Melania Trump never truly had a spot on that list, so she’s predictably absent, but its Vance’s nonattendance that really sparked questions. In the image, Trump is accompanied by Elon Musk — the incoming First Lady of the United States — the favored Trump son (Donald Trump Jr.), Robert F. Kennedy Jr. — nominated to be secretary of health and human services — and Mike Johnson, the current Speaker of the House of Representatives. It’s a good portion of the team set to help Trump reshape this country into a horror-show, but Vance is nowhere to be seen.

To many, Vance’s absence points to a growing rift between he and Trump. People are already predicting an ouster of Mike Pence proportions soon after the team takes office, leaving Vance to wander aimlessly for four years as Daddy Trump brushes him aside to make way for far less stable minds.

Donald Trump is notorious for his lack of loyalty, and it seems Vance may be about to learn that lesson in real time. He, and the rest of the world, already watched as Trump’s own supporters — urged on by the man himself — called for Mike Pence to be hanged when he was still serving as VP. As Trump removes himself more and more from Vance — before they even take office, no less — it’s clear that he once again intends to turn his vice president into a patsy if things turn sideways.