A Disturbing Portrait of Trump – Painted by JD Vance

What Vance's harsh words say about both men

Image credit: Gage Skidmore

Whether you’re conservative, liberal, or somewhere in between, we should all care about the integrity of our leaders, especially when they hold the highest offices in the country.

By now, many have heard about the harsh words that JD Vance — currently the Vice President of the U.S. — once had for Donald Trump. This isn’t breaking news. But the sheer contrast between what he said then and where he stands now is so striking and so utterly implausible that it’s worth revisiting. Sometimes, to truly grasp the absurdity of a situation, we need to lay out the facts in the simplest, clearest way possible.

Here is a list of Vance’s most notable statements on Trump.

“I’m a ‘Never Trump’ guy. I never liked him.”

— JD Vance, Charlie Rose Conversations, October 2016

“Trump is unfit for our nation’s highest office.”

— JD Vance, New York Times, April 2016

“I go back and forth between thinking Trump is a cynical asshole like Nixon … or that he’s America’s Hitler.”

— JD Vance, private message to a friend, February 2016

“Trump's actual policy proposals, such as they are, range from immoral to absurd.”

— JD Vance, USA Today, February 2016

“I can’t stomach Trump. I think that he’s noxious and is leading the white working class to a very dark place.”

— JD Vance, NPR, August 2016

“Trump makes people I care about afraid. Immigrants, Muslims, etc. Because of this I find him reprehensible. God wants better of us.”

— JD Vance, now-deleted tweet, October 2016

“He never offers details for how these plans will work, because he can’t. Trump’s promises are the needle in America’s collective vein ... Trump is cultural heroin. He makes some feel better for a bit. But he cannot fix what ails them, and one day they’ll realize it.”

— JD Vance, opinion article ‘An Opioid for the Masses’ for The Atlantic, July 2016

“My God, what an idiot”

— JD Vance, tweet in in reference to Trump, October 2016

“Trump is a moral disaster”

— JD Vance, message to a friend, June 2017

“In 4 years, I hope people remember that it was those of us who empathized with Trump’s voters who fought him the most aggressively.”

— JD Vance, now-deleted tweet, March 2017

“Trump has just so thoroughly failed to deliver on his economic populism”

— JD Vance, private Twitter message, 2020

“Here is an old picture of one of USA’s most hated, villainous, douchey celebs. Also in picture: OJ Simpson.”

— Tweet liked by JD Vance, featuring a photo of Trump and O.J. Simpson, February 2016

“Maybe the Central Park 5 could take out a full-page ad to condemn the coddling of thug real estate barons who commit serial sexual assault.”

— Tweet liked by JD Vance, quite obviously referring to Trump, October 2016

Radio host Matt Jone: “I cannot stand Trump because I think he's a fraud. I think he's a total fraud that is exploiting these people." Vance responds: “I do too. And it's like you said, I agree with you on Trump because I don't think that he’s the person. I don't think he actually cares about folks.”

— JD Vance on The Matt Jones Podcast, July 2016

“At the end of the day, do you believe Donald Trump, who always tells the truth? Just kidding. Or do you believe that woman on the tape?”

— JD Vance, commenting on sexual harassment allegations against Trump, 2016

Conclusion

Now that Vance serves as Trump’s Vice President, we are left with only two possible explanations: Either he was recklessly wrong in his initial assessment, displaying shockingly poor judgment, or he was right but has completely sold out his principles for political gain. Both options render him utterly unfit for such a powerful office.

Overwhelming evidence — from political analysts, psychology experts, and even fromer Trump administration insiders — suggests that Vance’s initial judgment was, in fact, correct. And yet, a little while later, he chose to align himself with Trump.

Vance now insists he was wrong in his past criticisms. This stunning reversal might have been believable if Trump hadn’t also been described in similar terms by numerous former allies and aides, who have called him a “wannabe dictator,” a “fascist to the core,” an “idiot,” a “domestic terrorist,” “the most grave threat we will face to our democracy in our lifetime, and potentially in American history,” among other alarming things.

Former aides who have made damning accusations against Trump include:

• Mike Pence (Trump’s former Vice President)

• Bill Barr (Trump’s second attorney general)

• John Kelly (Trump’s second chief of staff)

• Mick Mulvaney (Trump’s former acting chief of staff)

• James Mattis (Trump’s first secretary of defense)

• Mark Esper (Trump’s second secretary of defense)

• Mark Milley (Trump’s former chairman of the joint chiefs)

• Rex Tillerson (Trump’s first secretary of state)

• Nikki Haley (Trump’s first ambassador to the United Nations)

• Chris Christie (Trump’s former presidential transition vice-chairman)

• HR McMaster (Trump’s second national security adviser)

• John Bolton (Trump’s third national security adviser)

• Anthony Scaramucci (Trump’s former communication director)

• Stephanie Grisham (another of Trump’s former communications directors)

• Betsy DeVos (Trump’s former Secretary of Education)

• Elaine Chao (Trump’s former Secretary of Transportation)

• Richard Spencer (Trump’s first Secretary of the Navy)

• Tom Bossert (Trump’s first Homeland Security Adviser)

• Ty Cobb (Trump’s former White House lawyer)

• Alyssa Farah Griffin (former Director of Strategic Communications)

• Omarosa Manigault Newman (former top aide in charge of outreach to African Americans)

• Sarah Matthews (former Deputy Press Secretary)

• Cassidy Hutchinson (former Chief of Staff’s aide)

• Miles Taylor (former Department of Homeland Security official)

• Michael Cohen (Trump’s former personal lawyer)

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