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Status: 05/03/2022 5:20 p.m
A few years ago, author JD Vance presented himself as an opponent of Trump. Now he wants to win the Republican primaries in Ohio and move into the US Senate in the fall – with Trump’s help. How is the change of heart explained?
A hip brewery in an otherwise rather desolate strip mall in Ohio’s capital, Cincinnati, in the middle of the USA’s rust belt. JD (short for James David) Vance is completing one of his final campaign dates. The 37-year-old Republican comes across as easygoing. His wife and baby daughter lived nearby and therefore went with him, he says: “Of course the baby cried in the car when my cell phone rang. And who was it? Donald J. Trump.” The ex-president of the USA just wanted to tell him that everything was going well.
In fact, the father of three, financial investor and bestselling author is clearly ahead in the polls. What pushed him was that Trump publicly expressed his support for him – even though Vance openly criticized the ex-president just a few years ago. Back then, in 2016, his book “Hillbilly Elegie” was published – a novel about growing up in a broken white underclass family.
Discovered his enthusiasm for Trump late: JD Vance during a campaign appearance in Ohio.
Image: AP
Change of heart – and change of image
At the time, Vance didn’t mince his words: “I can’t stand Trump, I think he’s evil and he’s leading the white working class into a very dark place,” he said.
Vance was seen as someone who understood the needs of the working class. He was a political commentator before going into politics himself. Now, six years later, he describes himself as an ardent Trump supporter. “You know what: I was wrong about him. He was a great president and I’ve supported him for many years now,” he said in Cincinnati.
His rivals in the Republican Party – Matt Dolan and Josh Mandel – accuse him of hypocrisy. But JD Vance is proud that Trump supports him.
His new attitude is also reflected on the outside. He used to have soft features, but today he tries to give his round face more contours with a beard. With a crisp white shirt and dark blue jacket, he almost seems to be emulating Trump’s son Don Jr, who also helped him in the election campaign in Ohio.
Trump endorsement scores in Ohio
His political positions, however, are well known: against abortion, against immigration, for guns and for “America First”. “I think it’s sick that Joe Biden wants to send $33 billion to Ukraine while Donald Trump hasn’t gotten $4 billion for his border wall in four years,” he said.
Sherry, an older lady with pink lipstick and backcombed hair, agrees with Vance: “I’m about the line, I’m about the carrying guns.” The Dayton suburb’s Trump supporter only got into the brewery because Trump kind of recommended Vance and she wanted to meet him.
A lot of people here think like Sherry: Ohio is Trump country. That’s why JD Vance has a good chance of winning the election and possibly being elected Senator in the midterm elections in the fall.
The primary elections in Ohio are only the start of a whole series of “primaries” that will show how much influence Trump still has in the party.