The HillBilly Machiavellis
How JD Vance, Elon Musk, and the new right are rewriting populism for profit.
by Ben Cohen
“If you want real security guarantees, if you want to actually ensure that Vladimir Putin does not invade Ukraine again, the very best security guarantee is to give Americans economic upside in the future of Ukraine. That is a way better security guarantee than 20,000 troops from some random country that hasn’t fought a war in 30 or 40 years”
- JD Vance to Sean Hannity on Fox News, March 3rd, 2025
The term "Mayberry Machiavellis" was coined by John DiIulio, the head of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives in the George W. Bush administration.
DiIulio used the term to describe political operatives in the Bush White House, like Karl Rove, who he believed combined unsophisticated policy understanding with ruthless political calculation.
In a letter to Esquire’s Ron Suskind, Dilulio described the Mayberry Machiavellis as those who “consistently talked and acted as if the height of political sophistication consisted in reducing every issue to its simplest, black-and-white terms for public consumption, then steering legislative initiatives or policy proposals as far right as possible.”
Dilulio believed this toxic combination destroyed the “so-called compassionate conservatism,” he was appointed to spread.
Mayberry, of course, was a fictional folksy small town in the CBS sitcom “The Andy Griffith Show”, while Machiavelli referred to the cunning Italian Renaissance philosopher and author of “The Prince”.
The term outlived Dilulio’s short tenure at the White House, but it has receded in recent years as the influence of Bush-era neoconservatism has waned. For those familiar with that era of politics however, the term evokes powerful memories of small-minded Republicans who make cynical appeals to small-town America.
The new Machiavellis
On the surface, the apparatchiks around Donald Trump could be described as Mayberry Machiavellians. Many are from small towns and wax lyrical about small town values — or the “real America”. They are also ruthless and display real political cunning. But there is something very different about this new breed of Republican and the politics they espouse.
Vice President JD Vance is perhaps the best example of the new Mayberry Machiavelli.
Despite his humble roots in Middletown, Ohio, Vance’s political career is a creation of billionaire tech titans in Silicon Valley, namely Peter Thiel, David Sacks, and Elon Musk. The tech titans saw in Vance a political star who would further their agenda while appealing to working class Americans. Reported the Washington Post:
After the publication in 2016 of his memoir “Hillbilly Elegy,” Vance impressed Thiel’s rarefied Silicon Valley set with what they saw as an omnivorous intellect, mild manner and outsider story of growing up working-class in Ohio — a narrative that resonated after the 2016 election, as tech elites sought to understand how their obsession with building the future was leaving so many Americans behind.
Thiel made him wealthy, setting him up to invest in companies that became popular with the MAGA set. He shepherded Vance’s entry into politics, bankrolling, alongside other Silicon Valley donors, his successful bid for the U.S. Senate in 2022.
Thiel’s bet paid off and Vance is now first in line to succeed the President and a hot GOP favorite for 2028 (if Trump abides by the Constitution and steps down of course). The tech industry has an insider in the White House and his influence will dramatically reshape the economy in the coming months and years.
Trump’s base isn’t particularly interested in tech, AI, or cryptocurrency, so the administration’s deregulation efforts in these industries don’t register much with them. What they see in Vance is someone who reflects their values—a small-town boy who shares their worldview, understands traditional gender roles, and enjoys a beer with the guys.
The Hillbilly Machiavellis
This dynamic was on full display last week when Vance attempted to hijack a press conference between Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. As Zelenskyy appealed for continued U.S. support in Ukraine's war against Russia, Vance stepped in uninvited, lecturing him about America’s “priorities at home” and suggesting that Ukraine’s future depended on ensuring economic benefits for American investors. The moment encapsulated Vance’s transformation from an anti-Trump critic in 2016 to one of his most aggressive enforcers—and an embodiment of the cynical, opportunistic politics that define the modern GOP.
The spectacle of the Vice President attempting to bully Zelenskyy while standing beside Trump was an astonishing moment in American diplomacy. It was a clear demonstration that Vance is not just a passive participant in the Trump administration but an active architect of its nationalist, isolationist, and corporate-driven agenda.
Unlike the Bush-era Mayberry Machiavellis, the Hillbilly Machiavellis of today are not guided by ideology or policy expertise. They lack the intellectual framework of neoconservatism and have replaced it with a shallow and transactional approach to politics. Ukraine is small and weak so it can be bullied and exploited. Russia is big and powerful so it must be placated and negotiated with. It is playground politics where the rules are made and enforced by thugs.
MAGA conservatism then, is built not on a coherent worldview but on loyalty to Trump, a disdain for expertise, and a willingness to manipulate working-class grievances to serve the interests of the ultra-rich.
Elon Musk the populist
Elon Musk is another prime example of a modern Mayberry Machiavelli. While he projects the image of a maverick, self-made entrepreneur, his engagement in politics is deeply cynical. Musk has cultivated a populist persona on social media, positioned himself as a free speech warrior and critic of elite institutions, yet he actively seeks government subsidies, tax breaks, and deregulation that directly benefit his vast business empire. Much like Trump, he has presented his services as a benevolent gift to the American public, but his actions are that of a typical oligarch.
Musk’s alignment with figures like Vance and his embrace of far-right conspiracy theories demonstrate clearly that his political engagement has little to do with principle. Musk wants control over policy while maintaining the illusion of being an anti-establishment outsider. He wants power above all else, and like Vance he will manipulate narratives to serve his own interests.
2028 and beyond
As 2028 looms and JD Vance positions himself as the heir apparent to Trumpism, the country will have to reckon with what his, Musk, and the new MAGA movement’s ascendance really means: a new breed of Republicanism that is simultaneously more ruthless, more ignorant, and more beholden to the whims of its billionaire backers.
JD Vance and Elon Musk have weaponized nostalgia and cultural identity, turning working-class pain into a tool for elite manipulation. If the Mayberry Machiavellis of the early 2000s were cynical, today’s Hillbilly Machiavellis are something far worse. They have abandoned even the pretense of governance, replacing it with the politics of grievance and an unrestrained pursuit of power and profit.
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A mind is a terrible thing to waste.
Ignorance is not bliss.
An ignorant people is a vulnerable people.
America seems extremely vulnerable right now.
I'm a working class woman living in a red area (within a blue state). Vance does not represent me!