In 2016, JD Vance was a vocal critic of then-presidential candidate Donald Trump. In the span of eight years, Vance went from a never-Trumper to his running mate as Trump was nominated by Republicans for the third consecutive election cycle on Monday.
Vance’s prominence rose around the same time Trump first ran for president as he released a book titled “Hillbilly Elegy,” which documented his socioeconomic struggles growing up in Southwest Ohio. The 2016 book was adapted for a Netflix movie in 2020.
As Vance promoted his book in 2016, he was often interviewed on his view on politics and whether the economic plans of Trump and then-Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton would help or hurt people in struggling Rust Belt towns.
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One such soundbite showing his disdain for Trump came in 2016 when he told Kentucky-based radio host Matt Jones, “I cannot stand Trump because I think he’s a fraud. Well, I think he’s a total fraud that is exploiting these people.”
Vance expressed his discontent with both Trump and Clinton in a 2016 NPR interview, but he suggested at the time he would be more apt to vote for Clinton than Trump.
“My current plan is to vote either third party or, as I joked to my wife, I might write in my dog because that’s about as good as it seems,” Vance told NPR’s Terry Gross. “But, you know, I think there’s a chance, if I feel like Trump has a really good chance of winning, that I might have to hold my nose and vote for Hillary Clinton.”
Over time, that stance softened. Then Vance began to embrace Trump’s brand of conservatism and ultimately vied for his endorsement when running for Ohio’s open U.S. Senate seat in 2022. Vance emerged from a crowded Republican primary that featured numerous candidates who were coveting Trump’s endorsement.
“I think I saw this guy, he was an outsider,” Vance said. “I didn’t really believe he was serious, and then I saw the guy in action and I thought he was a successful president.
Few polls showed Vance ahead in the primary before Trump’s endorsement. Vance ended up winning 32% of the GOP primary vote, holding off Josh Mandel, who had 24%, and Matt Dolan, who had 23%.
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Now, Trump and Vance are on the same team, with similar stances on the issues.
“A clone of Trump on the issues,” President Joe Biden said on Monday, reacting to Vance’s vice presidential nomination. “I don’t see any difference.”
What makes Vance appealing to Trump
Because of Vance’s upbringing in Southwest Ohio, the Trump campaign is expected to utilize him heavily in three of the most important states in the upcoming election: Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
Although Vance grew up in a heavily populated corridor between Dayton and Cincinnati, cities only separated by about a one-hour drive, it is clear the Trump campaign will convince voters in heavily Republican rural counties that Vance and Trump make the perfect team.
“The GOP is the party of working Americans, and Sen. Vance has long championed the rural men and women left behind in Joe Biden’s America. His experience, on top of President Trump’s accomplishments for rural communities, like negotiating fairer trade deals like the USMCA and cutting red tape for our farmers, will show Americans in the Heartland that they have a home in President Trump’s movement to Make America Great Again,” RNC Chair Michael Whatley and Co-Chair Lara Trump said in a statement.
The Biden campaign pushed back on Monday, claiming Trump and Vance’s policies would hurt ordinary citizens.
“Over the next three and a half months, we will spend every single day making the case between the two starkly contrasting visions Americans will choose between at the ballot box this November: the Biden-Harris ticket who’s focused on uniting the country, creating opportunity for everyone, and lowering costs; or Trump-Vance – whose harmful agenda will take away Americans’ rights, hurt the middle class, and make life more expensive – all while benefiting the ultra-rich and greedy corporations,” said Biden-Harris campaign chair Jen O’Malley Dillon.
