Trump loves Vance because he’s a sycophant and a “fighter” but Vance’s inability to see how his shtick comes off to normal people is a major weakness. Trump has the same tendencies but he has the instincts not to lean into too far (e.g. “it’s just something I heard, I don’t know if it’s true).

He also does this thing where he'll say awful things about a person, and then later say 'he's a smart guy. I've got nothing against him.' Stuff like this is a HUGE part of his schtick and popularity because when people see this they think 'oh, he can be generous. People must have him all wrong.'