Highlights
- JD Vance said that Trump “thoroughly failed to deliver” in his first term.
- Vance predicted Trump would lose the 2020 presidential election.
- JD Vance said he did not vote for Trump in 2016 and adamantly opposed his candidacy.
- Vance said he voted third party for president in 2016.
- Vance said he would never vote for Trump, stating that he would sooner vote for Hillary Clinton.
- JD Vance actively spoke out against Trump and called on others to oppose him.
- Vance actively campaigned against Trump, calling him “dangerous” and “unfit” for office.
- Vance liked several tweets that were critical of Trump, calling him worse than OJ Simpson and saying that he committed “serial sexual assault.”
- Shortly after Trump’s election, Vance convened a group of conservatives to brainstorm how to oppose his presidency.
- JD Vance opposed Trump’s racist rhetoric.
- Vance said that Trump could be “America’s Hitler.”
- Vance called out the harm of Trump’s racism.
- Vance repudiated Trump’s racism because of the harm to the Republican Party.
- Vance blamed Trump for causing the Charlottesville Nazi marches.
- JD Vance rebuked Trump for his sexual assault allegations, indicating that he believed the survivors of Trump’s assaults.
- JD Vance doubted Trump’s efficacy.
- During Trump’s candidacy, Vance said that Trump knew how to point out problems but had no solutions.
- During Trump’s presidency, Vance said that Trump would not be effective and that Trump failed on his legislative promises.
¶ 2020: Vance Believed That Trump Failed To Deliver In His First Term, And Predicted That He Would Lost His Re-Election Bid
¶ 2020: Vance Said That Trump “Thoroughly Failed To Deliver”
2020: Vance Said That Trump “Thoroughly Failed To Deliver.” According to the Washington Post, “Vance has said watching the former president enact his populist agenda for left-behind Americans transformed him from a ‘Never Trump’ conservative in 2016 to a Trump supporter in 2020. But Vance privately expressed a very different verdict on Trump as the former president’s first term was nearing its end, previously unreported messages obtained by The Washington Post show. In the direct messages — sent during Trump’s final year in office to an acquaintance over the social media platform then known as Twitter — Vance harshly criticized his future running mate’s record of governance and said Trump had not fulfilled his economic agenda. ‘Trump has just so thoroughly failed to deliver on his economic populism (excepting a disjointed China policy),’ Vance wrote in February 2020.” [Washington Post, 9/27/24]
¶ 2020: Vance PRedicted That Trump Would Lose Re-Election
2020: Vance Predicted That Trump Would Lose The 2020 Presidential Election. According to the Washington Post, “He also offered a prediction: Joe Biden, he believed, was going to win the 2020 election. ‘I think Trump will probably lose,’ he wrote in a message in June 2020, a few months before ballots were cast in an election that Vance would later claim, falsely and repeatedly, was stolen by the Democrats.” [Washington Post, 9/27/24]
¶ 2016: Vance Said He Did Not Vote For Trump And Was A Vocal Critic Of His
¶ 2016: Vance Said He Voted Third Party For President
Vance Said He Would Vote For Evan McMullin In November Of 2016. According to Vance via his personal Vance Twitter, “This is cool. @Evan_McMullin is who I'm voting for this November.” [Vance via Twitter, 10/23/16]
Vance Said He Did Not Vote For Clinton Or For Trump In 2016. According to CNN, “So I didn't vote for Trump or Hillary where I was almost saying look, I told you so, Hillary is going to win, we shouldn't have nominated Trump in the first place, it just shows that in some ways I was in my own bubble and I'm guilty of some of the same things that I criticize the elite of being guilty of.” [CNN, 11/9/16]
Vance Said He Was Voting Third-Party And “Definitely Not Voting For Trump.” According to the Plain Dealer, “‘I’ll probably vote third-party,’ said Vance. ‘But I’m definitely not voting for Trump. He exacerbates the very worst tendencies of people in the area where I grew up.’” [Plain Dealer, 9/25/16]
¶ Vance Said He Would Never Vote For Trump
Vance Said He Would Either Vote Third Party, Write In His Dog, Or Vote For Clinton Before He Would Vote For Trump. According to NPR, “TERRY GROSS: What are you going to do this election, if you don't mind saying? VANCE: ‘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. 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. But at the end of the day, I just feel like she is so culturally disconnected from the people that I grew up around that it would be very, very hard for me to cast my ballot for her. So ultimately I think I'll probably vote third party. I might vote for this new guy who I really like, Evan McMullin, who I actually met the other day. But I think that I'm going to vote third party because I can't stomach Trump. I think that he's noxious and is leading the white working class to a very dark place. And ultimately I just don't share Hillary Clinton's politics.’” [NPR, 8/17/16]
Vance Said He Would “Never Support Trump.” According to Vance’s personal Facebook, “People often ask why I can’t bring myself to support Trump. From on perspective, he’s my perfect political match: an economic populist who actively agitates the Republican elites. But here, in probably the most inflammatory thing I’ve written, I try to explain why I will never support Trump. Put simply, I think he makes people feel better but offers nothing to address a very real social crisis.” [Vance via Facebook, 7/4/16]
VIDEO: October 2016: Vance Declared He Was “A Never Trump Guy” And “Never Liked Him.” According to the Charlie Rose Show on PBS, “VANCE: Yeah, exactly. And, you know, that feeling unfortunately if you think about the political dialogue that we’re already starting to have, you know, both on the left and the right, there’s a movement to sort of gloat over the fact that the elites were right about Donald Trump, right. I’m a never Trump guy. I never liked him.” [PBS - The Charlie Rose Show, 10/18/16]
Vance Called Himself A “Never-Trump Guy” And Labeled Trump An “Idiot.” According to Fortune, “Vance once called himself a ‘never-Trump guy’ and labeled Trump an ‘idiot.’ But like so much of his party, he has rallied to Trump’s side. He says the two are now ‘very close’ and talk ‘all the time.’ And while he said he would ‘help out however I can’ if he was offered the vice presidential ticket, he said Trump would also need allies in Congress.” [Fortune, 1/22/24]
¶ Vance Actively Spoke Out Against Trump And Called On Others To Oppose Him
¶ Vance Spoke Fought Against A Trump Presidency In 2016
¶ Vance Called Trump “Dangerous” And “Unfit” For Office
Vance Called Trump “Dangerous.” According to Slate, “It's like you guys have no idea the groundswell of support this guy has and it makes me very sad for my country, because as someone who thinks that Donald Trump is frankly dangerous, I don't want the lesson that everyone should learn from 2016 to not take. We may just be in a worse situation four years down the road or eight years down the road unless there is some recognition of what's going on on the other side of the country.” [Slate, 8/25/16]
Vance Said Trump’s Campaign Rhetoric Was “Dangerous.” According to the Wall Street Journal, “INTERVIEWER: JD, is that a dangerous movement because, though it separates us into classes, rather than talking about how growth can lift everyone up? VANCE: I definitely think it’s dangerous in a lot of ways. One it segregates us into classes.” [Wall Street Journal, 8/31/16]
Vance Wrote That “Mr. Trump Is Unfit For Our Nation’s Highest Office.” According to an Op-Ed by JD Vance in the New York Times, “Mr. Trump is unfit for our nation’s highest office. But to those humiliated by defeat, he promises we’ll win again. To those discouraged by a government unable to care for the people it sent to war, he promises to take care of our veterans. To those voters furious at politicians who sent their children to fight and bleed and die in Iraq, he tells them what no major Republican politician in a decade has said — that the war was a terrible mistake imposed on the country by an incompetent president.” [Vance via the New York Times, 4/4/16]
¶ Vance Said That Trump Was Not The Right Candidate For Working Class Voters
VIDEO: Vance Said Trump Was Not The Best Candidate For White-Working Class Voters. According to the Charlie Rose Show on PBS, “VANCE: Absolutely. You think about the slogan, Make America Great Again. The implication is that America isn’t great right now, and if you’re very unhappy about your life that’s going to resonate. CHARLIE ROSE: Do you think this is a large number of people? Do you think this is enough people to elect Donald Trump. VANCE: No, I don’t think it’s a large enough people to elect Donald Trump. Obviously, the demographics of the country have changed a lot, and the white working class community is still a pretty significant part of the electorate, but it’s not merely enough to let Donald Trump alone. So, my fear is – you know, I think Donald Trump is not the right candidate for this group of voters.” [PBS - The Charlie Rose Show, 10/18/16]
¶ Vance Said He Fought Against Trump
Vance Said He Had Fought Trump “Pretty Robustly.” According to Fareed Zakaria GPS on CNN, “VANCE: But if Trump decides to go to war against the Bret Stephens of the Republican party, those who have fought him, folks like me who fought him pretty robustly, then I think there's a chance that we're going to have a long-term civil war in the Republican party where we have to figure out what we really believe.” [CNN - Fareed Zakaria GPS, 11/6/16]
¶ Vance Once Liked Tweets That Were Critical Of Trump
Vance Liked Tweets Saying That Trump Committed “Serial Sexual Assault” And Other Disparaging Remarks. According to CNN, “Other tweets liked by Vance said Trump committed ‘serial sexual assault,’ called him ‘one of USA’s most hated, villainous, douchey celebs,’ and, in a since-removed set of tweets, harshly criticized Trump’s response to the deadly 2017 White nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia – something Vance now defends Trump over.” [CNN, 6/13/24]
Vance Liked A Tweet Calling Trump Worse Than OJ Simpson. According to CNN, “In February 2016, Vance liked a tweet featuring a photo of Trump, two women and O.J. Simpson with the caption, ‘Here is an old picture of one of USA’s most hated, villainous, douchey celebs. Also in picture: OJ Simpson.’” [CNN, 6/13/24]
Vance Liked Tweets Criticizing Trump As A “Nemesis Of The GOP,” Calling Him Antisemitic And A “Monster.” According to CNN, “While promoting his memoir and appearing on news programs in 2016, Vance liked a series of tweets calling then-candidate Trump a ‘monster’ and a ‘nemesis of the GOP.’ He also liked a tweet acknowledging ‘threats and derogatory terms Trump supporters hurl at Jews.’ He even liked a tweet from CNN anchor Jake Tapper criticizing Trump’s tweet about a woman’s appearance amidst then-first lady Melania Trump’s campaign against cyberbullying.” [CNN, 6/13/24]
¶ 2017: Vance Convened A Meeting Of Anti-Trump Conservatives To Discuss How To Oppose The Trump Presidency
2017: Vance Convened A Meeting Of Anti-Trump Conservatives To Discuss How To Oppose The Trump Presidency. According to the Atlantic, “About a week after the inauguration, in 2017, Vance invited me and a dozen other anti-Trump conservatives to a quiet meeting in a downtown Washington, D.C., conference room to discuss ways forward from the Trump predicament. That meeting was off the record, but Vance subsequently emailed participants to alert us that he himself had spoken to a reporter about it. Among the topics we considered: Could any good come from the Trump administration? How outspoken should we be in opposition? The meeting did not reach conclusions, but it did not need to.” [Atlantic, 5/10/22]
¶ Vance Opposed Trump’s Racist Rhetoric
¶ Vance Said Trump Could Be “America’s Hitler”
Vance’s Former Law School Roommate Shared A 2016 Screenshot Of A Text Between Himself And Vance In Which Vance Said Donald Trump Could Be “America’s Hitler.” According to the Washington Times, “J.D. Vance’s former law school roommate on Monday shared a screenshot of a text from 2016 in which the U.S. Senate candidate said Donald Trump could be ‘America’s Hitler.’ Georgia state Rep. Josh McLaurin, who roomed with Mr. Vance for a year at Yale University, shared a text from Mr. Vance saying ‘the public deserves to know the magnitude of this guy’s bad faith.”’ [Washington Times, 4/18/22]
¶ Vance Rejected Trump’s Racist Rhetoric
¶ Vance Repudiated Trump’s Racist Language Based On The Harm To Marginalized Communities
Vance Tweeted That Trump Was “Reprehensible” For His Language About “People I Care About” Like “Immigrants, Muslims, Etc.” According to Vance via Twitter, “Trump makes people I care about afraid. Immigrants, Muslims, etc. Because of this I find him reprehensible. God wants better of us.” [Vance via Twitter, 10/9/16]
AUDIO: Vance Said That There Were “Millions Of Americans” Who Were Afraid At The Prospect Of A Trump Presidency. According to the NPR TED Radio Hour, “VANCE: So the frame that I'll put on this, for example, is that for a lot of the folks back home who voted for Trump, who were excited about the prospect of a Trump candidacy, it's really important for them to recognize why there are so many millions of Americans who aren't just upset about the prospect of a Trump presidency but are actually afraid. Let's be frank about the fact that there are millions of people who felt that Trump's rhetoric directly threatened them and their families.” [NPR - TED Radio Hour, 12/16/16]
Vance Was A Critic Of Trump’s “Dog-Whistle” Politics Related To Race And Immigration. According to the Financial Times, “The truth is that his politics are complicated. A year into Trump’s presidency, Vance still has an ambivalent view of the man, melding awe and discomfort. ‘He is one of the few political leaders in America that recognises the frustration that exists in large parts of Ohio, Pennsylvania, eastern Kentucky and so forth,’ Vance says. He has been and remains critical of Trump’s dog-whistle politics related to race and immigration. And he is sceptical about the president’s long-term strategy. ‘The part that is forward-looking and answers the question ‘What do we do now?’ — it’s just not there yet.’” [Financial Times, 2/2/18]
¶ Vance Said “African Americans Were Rightfully Offended” By The Way Trump Described Black Communities
AUDIO: Vance Said “African Americans Were Rightfully Offended” By The Way Trump Described Black Communities. According to the Ezra Klein Show via SoundCloud, “VANCE: And, you know, even the way Trump framed this question of the inner cities. You know, he criticized the inner cities for being infested with crime, and drugs, and whatever else. It was obviously a very blunt way of putting it. And I think a lot of African Americans were rightfully offended by the way he described the inner cities, the way he described Black communities.” [Ezra Klein Show via SoundCloud, 1/24/17]
¶ Vance Claimed That Trump Was Making People More Racist
Vance Argued That Donald Trump Was Making People More Racist: “I Actually Think That Donald Trump Is Changing The Way People Think About Other Groups Of People In A Very Negative Way.” According to Politico, “If he's couching what he's talking about in a racial resentment, and progressive elites are saying, ‘All these people are racist and xenophobic,’ people's attitudes are going to change and they are going to become more racist over time. That's probably happening here. I actually think that Donald Trump is changing the way people think about other groups of people in a very negative way.” [Politico, 9/12/16]
¶ Vance Opposed Trump’s Racist Rhetoric Because Of The Harm To The Republican Party
Vance Said He Chose Not To Vote For Trump In Part Because, “The Message Of Trump’s Campaign Was Obviously Not Super-Appealing To Latino Americans, Black Americans.” According to the Plain Dealer, “Q: You’re a Republican, but you didn’t vote for Trump. Why not? (Vance instead voted for Evan McMullin, an independent candidate supported by anti-Trump conservatives.) VANCE: A couple of reasons. He used rhetoric that’s not in the best interest of the party or country. I happen to think that conservatism, when properly applied to the 21st Century, could actually help everybody. And the message of Trump’s campaign was obviously not super-appealing to Latino Americans, black Americans and so forth. That really bothered me.” [Plain Dealer, 1/1/17]
Vance Wrote That, “In Nominating Trump, Republicans Have Come Full Circle: The Party Of Lincoln Has Become The Party Of The White Man.” According toVance via an Op-Ed in the National Review, “By the time Republicans officially nominated Donald Trump as their presidential candidate, he polled even lower among Latinos than Romney had. Asian Americans, arguably the most financially successful minority group in the United States, have abandoned the party in droves. Current polls suggest that only a statistically shocking 1 percent of black Americans will vote to ‘make America great again’ this November. In nominating Trump, Republicans have come full circle: The party of Lincoln has become the party of the white man. And that man has become extremely cynical.” [Vance via The National Review, 8/29/16]
Vance Warned Against Trump’s Racist Rhetoric Would Lower “The Quality Of Discourse On The Right.” According to Vance via Facebook, “The one point of caution (and borrowing a bit from a friend on the Left) is that Trump is not lowering the the quality of discourse on the Right; he appears to be lowering the quality of our entire consent-based polity. There are, undoubtedly, vile racists at the core of Trump's movement. But there are also many good people, and I'd ask one favor of my friends on the Right and the Left who, like me, despise Trump and what he stands for: remember that Trump's voters are your fellow citizens, and that criticizing and looking down upon them hasn't worked so far; indeed, it appears to be making the problem worse. To shamelessly plug myself, I'd invite you to read a bit more about these people and their struggles in my book" [Vance via Facebook, 7/19/16]
¶ Vance Rejected The Idea That People Of Color Supported Trump
Vance Argued That The Idea That Trump Is Supported By People Of Color “Is Utterly Unsupported By The Evidence.” According to Vance via an Op-Ed in the National Review, “Donald Trump is fond of claiming that ‘the blacks’ -- just like ‘the Hispanics’ -- love him. Like so much of what he says, this is utterly unsupported by the evidence. But the Republican party's problem is bigger than Trump, and will outlast him: It is increasingly the party of a white population cut off from its fellow citizens.” [Vance via The National Review, 8/29/16]
¶ Vance Rebuked Trump’s Attack On A Gold Star Family
Vance Rebuked Trump’s Attack On A Gold Star Family And Chastised Him For His “Unbelievable Smallness” Relating To The Matter. According to Vance via Facebook, “I find events like this deplorable, but somewhere in a corner I discovered Ghazala and Khizr Khan, the gold star family that Donald Trump decided to pick a fight with. In his unbelievable smallness, Trump rhetorically asked why Mrs. Khan hadn't spoken at the DNC convention, and implied it was because she was a Muslim, silenced by her religion. I am not PC, and I recognize that the Islamic world is engulfed in a real culture war about modernity and liberalism. But if there is a war, against extremism or violence or jihad or whatever, these people are on the right side. I approached Mrs. Khan and told her that I was a Marine, and I thanked her for her son's sacrafice.” [Vance via Facebook, 9/13/16]
¶ Vance Blamed Trump, In Part, For Causing The Charlottesville Riots
Following The Violent Charlottesville Protests Vance Stated Trump “Could Have Done A Lot More To Unite The Country, To Call Out The Nazi Terrorism In Charlottesville.” According to CNN, “So, you know, when you look at the polls and the response that a lot of folks had to what happened in Charlottesville, you know, I was pretty critical of the president. I thought that he could have done a lot more to unite the country, to call out the Nazi terrorism in Charlottesville.” [CNN, 8/19/17]
Vance Criticized Trump For Being “Too Cautious About Coming Out And Criticizing” Nazis Following The Charlottesville Riots. According to CNN, “BLITZER: ‘What actually -- get your reaction to the way President Trump has handled this since saturday. The initial statement didn't specifically name the KKK, anti-Semites, didn't mention the white supremacists, none of that by name. He did yesterday. What do you think are the way he's handled this? VANCE: I think the president really missed an opportunity to name this phenomenon and gives people a sense where it comes from and show the moral leadership people want from a president. […] If I was President Trump in this situation, I'd spike the football. This is one of the things that really unites the entire country. Racism is bad. Nazism is bad. We fought a war to defeat Nazism. And the president should not just be -- there's a sense in which he's ambivalent or too cautious about coming out and criticizing this stuff.’” [CNN, 8/15/17]
¶ Vance Rebuked Trump For Sexual Assault Allegations
¶ Vance Indicated That He Believed The Survivors Of Trump’s Sexual Assaults
During The 2016 Campaign Vance Said He “Loathed” Trump And At One Point Wondered How Many People Trump Had Assaulted. According to Politico, “After all, during the 2016 campaign Vance had identified himself as ‘Never Trump,’ said he ‘loathed’ the former president and once wondered on Twitter: ‘What percentage of the American population has @RealDonaldTrump sexually assaulted?”’ [Politico, 5/3/22]
Vance Indicated He Believed One Of Trump’s Sexual-Assault Accusers Over Trump. According to MSNBC, “JESSICA LEEDS: These are not memories that you want to go over. It has been somewhat unnerving since Friday to be rehashing it so many times. You suppress it. It’s not part of your active thinking every day. But you don’t forget. Somehow or other, the armrest in the seat disappeared. And it was a real shock when, all of a sudden, his hands were all over me. He was like an octopus. It was like he had six arms. He was all over the place. When he started putting his hand on my skirt, and that was it. That was it. I was out of there. I wish the stewardess would come and rescue me. And then I decided, I got up. I got my purse. And I said, I’m going back to my seat in coach. MATTHEWS: What do you think of this? […] This woman is not a showoff. She’s just telling what happened so we can know it. VANCE: Yes, yes. And it’s sort of -- it makes me think that at fundamental, this is sort of he said/she said, right? And 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?” [MSNBC, 10/12/16]
¶ Vance Doubted Trump’s Ability To Be Effective In Office
¶ While Trump Was Running For President, Vance Doubted Trump’s Ability To Fix The Problems He Complained About
Vance Said That Trump Was Not Going To Make The Future Better. According to NPR, “VANCE: I think that it’s more about the white working-class folks who aren’t necessarily economically destitute but in some ways feel very culturally isolated and very pessimistic about the future. That’s one of the biggest predictors of whether someone will support Donald Trump – it may be the biggest predictor – is the belief that America is headed in the wrong direction, the belief that your kids are not going to have a better life than you did. And that cynicism really breeds frustration at political elites, but, frankly, that frustration needs to find a better outlet than Donald Trump. And that’s why I’ve made some of the analogies that I have because I don’t think that he’s going to make the problem better. I think, like you said, he is in some ways a pain reliever. He’s someone who makes people feel a little bit better about their problems. But whether he’s elected president or not, those problems are still going to be there, and we’ve got to recognize that.” [NPR, 8/17/16]
Vance Said Trump Diagnosed Problems, “But I Don't See Him As Offering Many Solutions.” According to ABC, “VANCE: Well, I think one thing they should be doing is thinking seriously about what's wrong in their communities and going, both in personal ways, but also in the political leaders that they choose, really holding their feet to the fire and asking that they do things that will actually address their problems. I think, frankly, that's a big problem with Trump is that he diagnoses the problems in a very successful and very passionate way, but I don't see him as offering many solutions.” [ABC, 8/14/16]
¶ Vance Compared Trump To Heroin, Saying That Trump Makes The Pain Go Away But Would Not Actually Fix The Problem
Vance Said, “What Trump Offers Is An Easy Escape From The Pain” But No Real Solutions. According to Vance via an Op-Ed in the Atlantic, “What Trump offers is an easy escape from the pain. To every complex problem, he promises a simple solution. He can bring jobs back simply by punishing offshoring companies into submission. As he told a New Hampshire crowd-folks all too familiar with the opioid scourge-he can cure the addiction epidemic by building a Mexican wall and keeping the cartels out. He will spare the United States from humiliation and military defeat with indiscriminate bombing. It doesn't matter that no credible military leader has endorsed his plan. 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.” [Vance via the Atlantic, 7/4/16]
Vance Foretold Of A Future Under A Trump Presidency Where His Supporters’ Problems Persisted. According to Vance via an Op-Ed in the Atlantic, “I'm not sure when or how that realization arrives: maybe in a few months, when Trump loses the election; maybe in a few years, when his supporters realize that even with a President Trump, their homes and families are still domestic war zones, their newspapers' obituaries continue to fill with the names of people who died too soon, and their faith in the American Dream continues to falter. But it will come, and when it does, I hope Americans cast their gaze to those with the most power to address so many of these problems: each other. And then, perhaps the nation will trade the quick high of ‘Make America Great Again’ for real medicine.” [Vance via the Atlantic, 7/4/16]
¶ Vance Continued To Doubt Trump’s Effectiveness Once He Took Office
Vance Said That Trump “Probably Won't Be” Effective. According to Journal And Courier, “Q: Do you think people you wrote about who voted for Trump are going to have a voice? Or do you think they're going to get played? Vance: Definitely, folks feel like they have a voice now. Whether he does good things or not is going to be determined over the next few years. I think it's too early to say whether they got played. I tend to think even if he's not a successful president, I wouldn't say they got played, because I don't think that gives enough credit to, frankly, how smart people are when they're weighing their vote and what to do with it. As for the question about whether he'll be ultimately effective, my guess is that he probably won't be.” [Journal And Courier, 1/28/17]
Vance Said That Trump Did Not Offer Solutions To The Problems He Diagnosed. According to the Plain Dealer, “In some ways even more importantly than that, while I think Trump had clearly diagnosed very real problems, I didn’t see any real evidence that he had much in the way of positive solutions that would address a lot of these concerns. . . . I’m sort of taking a wait-and-see approach, but if he doesn’t [provide solutions], that’s going to leave people in an even worse position than they were four years ago.” [Plain Dealer, 1/1/17]
¶ Vance Said That The Trump Administration Was Unfocused And Unserious About Policy Priorities
Vance Said He Did Not See Evidence From Trump That He Was Serious About Policies To Push The Country Forward. According to Vance via CNN, “But the core domestic policy priorities, the core domestic policy proposals that he's put out there, even though they are obviously not very detailed, to the degree that there are details, it's not looking especially good right now. And I say that of course as a conservative who really wants this president to succeed in certain ways. But I just don't see the evidence that we're being serious about the policies that are necessary to move the country forward yet.” [Vance via CNN, 4/26/17]
Vance Argued That Trump Was Too Focused On Culture War Issues As Opposed To Passing Domestic Policy According to Vance via CNN, “If we weren't talking about the president's response to it, we may be actually getting something done as Republicans on the policy front, and we're just not doing that. And I think to connect the morality to the politics of this is that eventually if you don't accomplish something, you're going to pay the price. These culture war battles may not affect Trump's approval among the base in the short term, but four years from now we're looking back and saying we didn't reform health care, we didn't really grow wages or jobs, that's the sort of thing that's really going to matter not just morally but politically, too.” [CNN, 8/17/17]
Vance Argued That Trump’s Administration Had “No Domestic Policy Agenda Besides Tax Cuts” According to CNN, “Ohio Republican Senate candidate J.D. Vance, a venture capitalist and author of the bestselling book ‘Hillbilly Elegy,’ disparaged then-President Donald Trump as a ‘moral disaster’ whose administration had ‘no domestic policy agenda besides tax cuts’ in Twitter direct messages from summer 2017.” [CNN, 7/14/21]
¶ Vance Said That Trump Was Failing On His Legislative Priorities
Vance Said That Things Were Not Going Well For Trump’s Legislative Priorities. According to Vance via CNN, “VANCE: I think you hear from a lot of different people if you’re on the ground in these areas talking to people is a broad recognition that things aren’t going fantastically well right now. And whether going well comes in the form of a big legislative win, whether it means another big victory that Trump can sort of pin his hat on, there is a recognition that folks think that the president could do a little better.” [CNN, 8/4/17]
Vance Said That Trump Still Did Not Deliver On The Economic Recovery Of The Industrial Midwest. According to Vance via CNN, “VANCE: ‘Well, there are a couple of things. The first is that even if the economy is going broadly well, obviously that economy doing well doesn’t reach across all sectors of the country. And so, even though you see unemployment numbers doing reasonably well, what’s happening in places like the industrial Midwest, in Michigan and Ohio, is that the economic recovery still hasn’t fully set in.’” [CNN, 8/4/17]
Vance Noted There Was A “Sense That The President Just Isn’t Able To Deliver” On Health Care Reform. According to Vance via CNN, “VANCE: And so, when people see the president really going after a major health care reform effort, and then failing, and when people are still obviously frustrated about the way the health care system is working right now, that leads to this sense that the president just isn’t able to deliver.” [CNN, 8/4/17]