Posted on 07/15/2024 2:39:19 PM PDT by NoLibZone
He once called Donald Trump “cultural heroin” and said he feared he could be “America’s Hitler.” But over an eight-year transformation, the Ohio senator became one of his most ardent supporters.
Senator J.D. Vance, who joined former President Donald J. Trump’s 2024 ticket on Monday, once described his new running mate as a kind of “cultural heroin” — and privately feared that he could be “America’s Hitler.”
That was nearly a decade ago, when Mr. Trump’s political ascent coincided with Mr. Vance’s rise as the author of “Hillbilly Elegy,” his memoir of growing up poor in rural Kentucky and Ohio. Mr. Vance was frequently interviewed for his views on the white working-class communities described in his book, full of the types of voters drawn to Mr. Trump’s “Make America Great Again” pitch, and to his insistence that he alone could save a nation in decline.
In a 2016 article in The Atlantic, “Opioid of the Masses,” Mr. Vance wrote: “During this election season, it appears that many Americans have reached for a new pain reliever.” He went on: “It enters minds, not through lungs or veins, but through eyes and ears, and its name is Donald Trump.” But, he argued, Mr. Trump was not the solution.
Times change.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
The ability to change one’s views based on new evidence is known as intellectual humility. Intellectual humility is essential for professionals to continually update their knowledge and practices based on the latest research and evidence. For this I admire JD Vance. Time will tell if Trump is correct in choosing him.
A lot can change in two years. Like the dead shooter kid was a republican 2 years ago. He never changed his party affiliation, got radicalized and MKULTRA’d, and tried to kill Trump. This is not that big of a deal, but it might have been disqualifying with me if I was picking a running mate.
Trying HARD to inject a little optimism in the JD Vance appointment I note that Reagan was once a democrat as was Trump.
People do change. Lol.........that’s about all I can say. Trump must see something he likes in the guy.
“For this I admire JD Vance. Time will tell if Trump is correct in choosing him.”
I still wonder who the NeverTrumpers preferred over JD Vance. As far as I’ve seen on FR, no one has put out a name.
But then again, I would love to hear how he explained away the “Trump is Hitler” comment. And if Trump even realizes he said this.
Trump wants to get elected in a huge landslide.....JD will certainly attract some the other choices would not have. Trump knows this.
The important thing is that JD Vance learned and changed his mind. Would that the world of leftists followed suit.
What I've read says he grew up in Middletown, Ohio, a town of about 50,000 not far from Cincinnati. Nothing against Vance, but I can't find this rural, hillbilly background he wrote about.
more likely he registered as a republican to crap all over the primary
This whole project 2025 think tank paper is a huge central point in the Democrats argument against Republicans right now
He spent several years as a child in Kentucky. The liberals loved his book. He did not make fun of his family or turn his back on them. Liberals love reading about very poor white people. Every few years some Liberal reporter makes a trip across the backwoods of fly over county and writes a book. Liberals love it!! I read it and watched him take about it on C span 2.
What if Vance hasn’t changed but is only pretending to have changed? I don’t automatically trust politicians that have claimed to have changed.
Thanks, I’ll read some other sources. Started with Wikipedia which is usually okay for basic biographical information. Did read that Vance joined the USMC out of high school and attended Ohio State after that service. Was impressed with that.
He is an excellent speaker. He will make a great presidential candidate in 2028. Like many he bought into the Republican GOPe narrative that Trump was bad for America. He has seen and now knows DJT on a more personal basis and now sees that the GOPe is the problem and has been the problem for decades.
The same exact thing happened to Reagan in 1980 when he was forced to pick George H. W. Bush. The GOPe hated Reagan also.
Me included. Initially, I thought Trump's presidential campaign was a clown show. I figured by the end of that summer, he'd drop out in a huff like Ross Perot (in '92), endorse Jeb Bush, and do another season of The Apprentice.
Even though Trump coming down the escalator at Trump Tower was just a few blocks away from me at the time, it took me over a week before I watched the actual full speech on YouTube.
Then I started to come around to Trump and have never wavered since.
I was a bit unsure about Trump at first in 2016, but then I realized he had absolutely no fear.
Privately?
I cannot get past the NY Times fire wall.
Can someone give me the full quote, the context, and who claims Vance said this?
Thank you.
I was skeptical of Trump at first back before he was elected. All I had to go on was that he had donated to certain democrats in the past.
But.... that skepticism didn’t last long.
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