When Donald Trump was sworn-in as the forty-seventh president of the United States at noon on Monday, it marked one of the most stunning and triumphant political comebacks in American history.
The president referenced the turnaround in his inaugural speech, but there was another redemption story that, in Megyn’s view, ruled the day. It was that of J.D. Vance and his mother, Beverly Aikins, who was proudly by his side as he took the vice presidential oath of office.
On Monday’s show, Megyn was joined by Emily Jashinsky, D.C. correspondent for Unherd, and Eliana Johnson, editor-in-chief of The Washington Free Beacon, to discuss her “favorite moment” of the inauguration and why it resonated so deeply.
Vance’s Mom
As Vance took the oath administered by Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, he was surrounded by his wife, Usha Vance, their three kids – Ewan, Vivek and Mirabel – and his mom. And while three-year-old Mirabel stole the show for many with her Bluey-themed bandages, Megyn was most taken with Aikins.
“His mom Beverly just hit 10 years clean from her heroin addiction, and I gotta tell you – this actually kind of makes me kind of emotional – but the way she looks reminds me of my [late] sister, who was also a recovering addict,” Megyn shared. “She is beautiful, but a little weathered. You can tell this person has not had the easiest life. And look at her. It is so sweet. She is there seeing her son sworn in as the vice president.”
Given Aikin’s story and Vance’s upbringing, which was immortalized in the bestselling memoir and film Hillbilly Elegy, a lot of odds were overcome to make that moment possible. “If you know his story… he suffered so mightily,” Megyn explained. “His dad abandoned them. His mom had man after man in the house. His mom had a history of abuse… He heard a lot of domestic violence in the house. He never knew what pajamas were. He slept in blue jeans… He had Pepsi in his baby bottle… He had absolutely no signs that something wonderful would happen in his life. None whatsoever. “
But there were blessings, too. “He had the blessing of some strong women around him – his Mamaw… his sister, Lindsay… Amy Chua, a professor at Yale Law School, who really is one of the reasons he is up there today… Usha, who he met at Yale Law School,” Megyn added. “And inside this abusive environment was a really smart, gifted kid, and Mamaw saw it.”
As Megyn explained, he overcame his childhood to serve in the Marines, graduate from Ohio State in two years, get into Yale Law School, work in Silicon Valley for Peter Thiel, write a bestselling memoir that was turned into movie, successfully run for U.S. senator in Ohio, and then get tapped to be the vice presidential nominee – all by the age of 40. “To see him up there and to see his loving mother… was, for me, by far, number one,” Megyn said.
The Storylines
Vance’s swearing-in was also a standout moment for Johnson, but for a different reason. “There were a lot of storylines colliding in that moment, which is that he chose Brett Kavanaugh to admit the oath to him,” she noted. “His wife, Usha, clerked for Kavanaugh… And I had a conversation with J.D. way back when, before he ran for any kind of office, who relayed the impact that Kavanaugh ordeal [in 2018] had on him.”
Johnson said Kavanaugh “is sort of a central figure in all of this,” which made the moment particularly poignant. Megyn agreed. “Both of those guys have come under serious fire from leftists who are out to ruin them. There was a period where even the Republican Party was saying J.D. was not going to… survive ‘childless cat lady,'” she noted. “Trump did not waver on J.D., he did not waver on Brett Kavanaugh, and so there was a poetic justice to Kavanaugh being the one to administer the oath to J.D. today.”
In Jashinsky’s view, Vance’s story is an inspiration. “J.D. Vance’s story is so irresistible that even Ron Howard made a Netflix movie about it… His background… doesn’t happen to a lot of people. It actually doesn’t happen to a lot of people in politics anymore because of the way upward mobility and things have stagnated,” she said. “He beat the odds, and… he has the story that I think the press would be slobbering over right now if he were a Democrat.”
You can check out Megyn’s full interview with Jashinsky and Johnson by tuning in to episode 986 on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you like to listen. And don’t forget that you can catch The Megyn Kelly Show live on SiriusXM’s Triumph (channel 111) weekdays from 12pm to 2pm ET.