J.D. Vance Confronted About ‘Complicated’ Trump Endorsement Amid Revelation He Trashed Him as ‘America’s Hitler’
Hillbilly Elegy author and Ohio Republican Senate candidate J.D. Vance appeared on Newsmax on Tuesday and addressed recent revelations about reported past comments on former President Donald Trump, including calling him “America’s Hitler.” Trump has endorsed Vance and will be campaigning with him on Saturday.
“Your relationship with the former president is complicated. You didn’t always support Donald Trump or his policies. I know that changed for you. How did that dynamic change for you?” Wake Up America co-host Rob Finnerty asked during the interview, referencing Vance’s now-viral comments.
Specific quotes were not mentioned, though Finnerty said Trump was at one point “not a J.D. Vance supporter.”
Vance admitted he was not a fan of Trump either in 2016, but he became a “convert” after seeing him in office.
“I did not expect him to deliver on a lot of the promises he made, and I was very proud to be proven wrong,” Vance said.
The Senate hopeful added that the “corruption” against Trump helped him embrace the political movement around him, even saying Trump is one of the most-attacked politicians he’s ever seen.
“I’ve never seen a political leader in my life, where so many powerful people tried to destroy him, tried to destroy his family, and it made me think, ‘wow, there really is something important about this movement,” he said.
Vance touting Trump’s support follows the release of alleged messages sent to Georgia state representative and former Vance roommate Josh McLaurin in which the author described Trump as potentially being “America’s Hitler.”
“I go back and forth to thinking Trump is a cynical asshole like Nixon … or that he’s America’s Hitler. How’s that for discouraging?” he wrote in one reported message.
The screenshot below is @JDVance1’s unfiltered explanation from 2016 of the breakdown in Republican politics that he now personally is trying to exploit.
The “America’s Hitler” bit is at the end.
The public deserves to know the magnitude of this guy’s bad faith. pic.twitter.com/79Z0qSWFWF
— Josh McLaurin (@JoshforGeorgia) April 18, 2022
In a 2016 interview with Charlie Rose, Vance also referred to Trump as an “idiot” and declared, “I’m a Never Trump guy.”
Trump has embraced Vance despite the past comments, which have been used regularly in attack ads promoting other Republicans in the crowded race that also includes Josh Mandel, the former state treasurer, and a vocal Trump supporter. One of his campaign slogans has been “pro-GOD, pro-GUN, pro-TRUMP.” Other GOP candidates Mike Gibbons and Jane Timken have also spoken positively about Trump.
“Like some others, J.D. Vance may have said some not-so-great things about me in the past, but he gets it now,” Trump said of his Vance endorsement.
Trump will be campaigning with Vance on Saturday and his son Donald Trump Jr. will be campaigning with him on Wednesday. Whichever candidate comes out the winner from the May 3 primary will potentially be going against Rep. Tim Ryan (D-OH) for a Senate seat that is held at the moment by the retiring Sen. Rob Portman (R-OH).
