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The lesbian MSNBC host showed the audience how Vance went from never Trump to blind Trump worship in a few years.
On MSNBC Monday evening,Rachel Maddow exposedOhioRepublican U.S. Sen. JD Vance’s journey from a vehement Trump critic to the former president’s official vice-presidential nominee. Maddow’s detailed examination painted a vivid picture of a politician whose transformation raises critical questions for theLGBTQ+ community and the broader American electorate.
Vance, 39, built his early career on outspoken criticism of Donald Trump. As a venture capitalist and author of the popular book-turned-movie Hillbilly Elegy, he emerged as a “never Trump” figure, condemning Trump in the strongest terms. Maddow featured clips from 2016, where Vance unabashedly labeled Trump a “total fraud” and expressed his inability to support him. He contemplated voting for Hillary Clinton or writing in his dog’s name rather than backing Trump, sentiments he shared publicly and unequivocally.
Maddow included Vance’s belief in the testimonies of Trump’s accusers, such as E. Jean Carroll, a writer who Trump sexually abused inNew York City decades ago, according to a civil court judgment by a jury. Vance previously indicated that he believed Carroll over Trump. His critique extended to a New York Times op-ed, where he described Trump as “unfit for our nation’s highest office” and likened him to other controversial political figures in history. His rhetoric was scathing, calling Trump a “monster,” “moral disaster,” and “cultural heroin.” He even wrote to a former roommate, saying he goes “back and forth between thinking Trump is a cynical asshole like [Richard] Nixon or that he is America’s Hitler.”
After an assassination attempt on Trump at aPennsylvania rally on Saturday, Vance dialed up the contentious rhetoric, accusing PresidentJoe Biden of causing the shooting attack. Vance attributed the violence toDemocratic criticism, claiming it “led directly” to the attack.
Maddow highlighted the irony and opportunism in Vance’s newfound support for Trump. The man who once couldn’t “stomach Trump” now stands beside him on the Republican ticket, a shift that raises serious questions about political integrity and expediency, she pointed out.
Vance’s legislative history further contextualizes his transformation. He introduced the Protect Children’s Innocence Act to criminalize medical professionals providing gender-affirming care to minors and has consistently opposed marriage equality, reproductive rights, and LGBTQ+ protections. His rhetoric often includes calling advocates for LGBTQ+ education “groomers” and framing opposition to LGBTQ+ rights as “parents’ rights.”
