In a recent broadcast, Maddow shared Vance’s previous statements against Trump in which Vance called him a “total fraud,” a “moral disaster,” “reprehensible,” an “idiot,” “cultural heroin,” “unfit for our nation’s highest office,” “a cynical as**ole” and “America’s Hitler.” Vance also said in 2016 that he would rather vote for his own dog or then-Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton than help elect Trump.
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“I think that [Trump is] noxious and is leading the white working class to a very dark place,” he said in an NPR interview. Vance has since deleted his former social media posts criticizing Trump and says he now wholly supports Trump after coming to realize how good he is for the nation.
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Maddow also noted that Vance has previously stated that he doesn’t want the U.S. to continue funding Ukraine’s defense against Russia’s invasion and that he opposes abortion for any reason, including for pregnancies that result from incest or rape. Vance also supports using private medical records to prosecute women for traveling out of state to get abortions, Maddow noted.
She noted that Vance has expressed support for the rioters who stormed the U.S. Capitol, attacking and injuring police, during the riots of January 6, 2021. He also supports efforts already underway to challenge the results of this year’s presidential election, if he and Trump lose.
In 2021, 139 out of 221 House Republicans voted against certifying the 2020 election results. Trump’s then-Vice President Mike Pence refused Trump’s demand to not certify the Electoral College’s victory of now-President Joe Biden. Maddow worries that Vance will contest an election loss and will refuse to certify future election results, if asked to do so by Trump.
Echoing Maddow’s comments about Vance’s past anti-Trump views, U.S. Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-NY) wrote on X, “JD Vance was against Donald Trump before he was for him.”
On X, Rep. Robert Garcia (D-CA) wrote, “JD Vance is an extremist with views that are completely outside the mainstream. The fact that he immediately politicized the assassination attempt against former President Trump and blamed Democrats is shameful. There couldn’t be a more irresponsible pick.”
JD Vance is an extremist with views that are completely outside the mainstream. The fact that he immediately politicized the assassination attempt against former President Trump and blamed Democrats is shameful. There couldn’t be a more irresponsible pick.
U.S. Rep. Mark Pocan (D-WI) said, “Vance has spent his very short congressional career trying to make life as miserable as possible for the LGBTQI+ community and for women. It’s no wonder Trump picked [Vance] to be second fiddle. He will help usher Project 2025 from day one, standing by as Trump pushes his dictatorial tendencies.”
Pocan referenced Project 2025, the Heritage Foundation’s vision for a second Trump administration that would deny transgender civil rights, allow discrimination against same-sex married couples, and end federal government support of LGBTQ+ Americans. The project also plans other attacks on reproductive rights and diversity trainings in education and workplaces.
Trump has tried to distance himself from Project 2025, even pretending not to know what it is. Vance, on the other hand, has said it contains both “good ideas” and “some things he disagreed with.” He wrote a review of the Heritage Foundation’s President Kevin Roberts’ new book, Dawn’s Early Light: Burning Down Washington to Save America, calling Roberts’ ideas “an essential weapon” for “the fights that lay ahead,” Newsweek reported.
Activists and journalists react to JD Vance’s vice presidential nomination
Kelley Robinson, president of the Human Rights Campaign, wrote of Vance’s nomination, “Donald Trump has been a bully for years – and his pick of MAGA clone JD Vance is a reminder that nothing has changed. This is anything but a unity ticket.”
“We are not simply choosing between two campaigns,” Robinson continued. “We are choosing between two fundamentally different visions of America. One, with Trump and MAGA ‘yes man’ JD Vance at the helm, where our rights and freedoms are under siege. And the other, with Joe Biden and Kamala Harris leading the way, where we are advancing toward freedom and equality for all. Everything is at stake and the contrast could not be clearer. We must defeat Trump, Vance, and their brand of chaos and division, and send Joe Biden and Kamala Harris back to the White House.”
U.K. LGBTQ+ rights activist Peter Tatchell wrote of Vance via X, “Sadly but predictably, JD Vance, Trump’s running mate, is anti-LGBT+. He opposed marriage equality & protecting LGBTs against discrimination. He opposed some gender-affirming health care & smeared anyone who opposed a ban on drag performers as ‘groomers.’”
Transgender journalist Parker Molloy wrote via X, “Last year, Vance introduced a bill that would […] ‘prohibit institutions of higher education from providing instruction on ‘gender-affirming care” for people of any age. Dude’s an extremist. And even though it would have massively affected people of all ages, he gave the bill the name ‘the Protect Children’s Innocence Act.’ Naturally.”
Gillian Branstetter, a trans communications strategist at the ACLU’s Women’s Rights Project and LGBTQ & HIV Project, noted that despite recent calls to “tone down” heated political rhetoric following the assassination attempt against Trump last Saturday, “here’s how Trump’s VP nominee talks about LGBTQ people and those who oppose book bans in schools.”
She then re-posted one of Vance’s social media posts from 2022 in which he said, “I’ll stop calling people ‘groomers’ when they stop freaking out about bills that prevent the sexualization of my children.” Groomer is a slur, often used by right-wingers that accuses LGBTQ+ people and allies of gaining children’s trust to sexually abuse them.
For all the discussion in the last 48 hours about “toning down” rhetoric here’s how Trump’s VP nominee talks about LGBTQ people and those who oppose book bans in schools https://t.co/ye3HQFOmUW
— Gillian Branstetter (@GBBranstetter) July 15, 2024
Trans LGBTQ Nation journalist Mira Lazin revealed that Vance once took a picture with members of the Proud Boys, a right-wing, neo-fascist, militant organization that promotes political violence against LGBTQ+ members, anti-racist protestors, and Democrats.
Trump infamously told the group “Stand back and stand by” when asked to denounce them and other purveyors of political violence during a 2020 presidential debate.
Lazin’s X post was later re-posted by trans journalist Erin Reed.
Since J.D. Vance is announced as Trump’s VP pick, now’s a good time for me to reveal that Vance has been pictured with the Proud Boys, with members bragging about having met them. pic.twitter.com/VO41sqHd1V
