What Happened After Donald Trump Confronted J.D. Vance Over Previous Derogatory Comments

In the realm of American politics, unlikely alliances are no stranger, but the bond between Donald Trump and J.D. Vance may be one of the most unexpected. Before becoming Trump’s staunch supporter and eventual 2024 vice-presidential pick, Vance had been one of Trump's harshest critics. In fact, he had even gone as far as comparing Trump to Adolf Hitler during the 2016 election. So, with Trump’s well-documented reluctance to forgive those who criticize him, suffice it to say that the first meeting between Trump and Vance was anything but smooth.

According to Time, when Vance arrived at Trump’s office, he was greeted with a collection of negative comments he had made about the former president, neatly printed and laid out on Trump’s desk. Trump didn’t shy away from addressing Vance’s past criticisms, reportedly confronting him with the statement, "You said some nasty s*** about me."

Vance, however, didn’t shy away at the moment. He explained his transformation from a ‘Never Trump guy’ to a loyal supporter, acknowledging that he had initially been influenced by Trump’s portrayal in the media. Over time, Vance claimed, he began to view Trump as a leader capable of bringing about prominent political change, as reported by The List. 

The shift in Vance’s stance is particularly striking, given his past vehement criticisms of Trump. For context, as per Fox News, in 2016, during an interview with Charlie Rose, Vance expressed a bleak outlook on Trump’s candidacy: "I’m a Never Trump guy. I never liked him."

Vance also wrote in an article that year, comparing Trump’s appeal to 'cultural heroin.' He remarked, “To every complex problem, he promises a simple solution. 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,” as noted by The Washington Post.

In another instance, Vance was heard saying, “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.” However, despite this rocky start, the meeting between Trump and Vance ended on a surprisingly positive note. Vance pledged to win Trump over, and it seems he did just that.

This alliance, while unexpected, was not without its complications. Vance’s former law school roommate, Josh McLaurin, shared a 2016 message from Vance in which he expressed deep skepticism about Trump, calling him a dangerous figure for the country. Reportedly, Vance wrote he went “back and forth between thinking Trump is a cynical assh-le like Nixon who wouldn’t be that bad (and might even prove useful) or that he’s America’s Hitler.” McLaurin remarked, “I never could have dreamed during those exchanges in 2016 that he would end up being one of the principal reinforcers of Trumpism only a few years later.”