Serious about wanting to start WWIII by annexing a sovereign nation, he means.

Perhaps Trump will try to calm people by calling it, say, a “connection”?

De facto, not de jure. Not that any such jure matters anymore, but you get my drift.

Reminder: Usha Vance clerked for Kavanaugh and Roberts. While she doesn’t deserve to be the target of racial abuse, she does not likely take issue with such language being used more broadly.

On the other hand, she didn’t vote Republican until doing so for her husband in the 2022 primary in Ohio, so she is a land of contrasts, likely being on whatever side gives her power or access to it. She is, at best, undergoing some cognitive dissonance (though we haven’t seen any such evidence thus far), but she is no victim.