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What Does JD Vance Really Believe? Unpacking His Political Flip-Flops

Few figures in recent political history have shifted their stances as publicly and as dramatically as JD Vance. Once solely the author of Hillbilly Elegy, Vance presented himself as thoughtful and cautiously contemplative of the cultural and economic decline happening in America. He was a skeptic of political extremists and was openly wary of Donald Trump. Now, he is Trump’s vice president and has declared himself a champion of populist conservative views. He has become many of the things he has spoken out against.

The drastic transformation of JD Vance has led many to wonder what he really believes in. Many question whether he is more of a political chameleon than a figure who stands firmly in specific convictions, or a true believer in the opinions he has newly adopted. Here is a closer look at some of Vance’s biggest political flip-flops and the legitimate questions these shifts have raised.

Trump Shifts From A Potential Threat to His Running Mate

One of the most glaring reversals Vance has made is his connection to Donald Trump. In 2016, during the first Trump presidential campaign, Vance criticized Trump in several interviews, and in private conversations, it was later revealed. According to sources, he suggested that Trump embodied the worst aspects of America and even made a comparison to Hitler in a since-leaked private message. This kind of stance reflects the concerns of many about how Trump being elected could have exacerbated racial division and authoritarian undertones across the nation.

Jumping ahead to 2024, Vance was not only tapped as Trump’s running mate but is now vice president alongside him in the White House. He shed his past critiques of the MAGA political movement and rebranded himself as a loyal soldier and supporter. He explained his dramatic shift as originally being wrong about Trump and that the former and now president has delivered on what he promised he’d accomplish, thus earning his newfound respect. Critics viewed this as a sign of political opportunity at its finest, while supporters deemed it a signal that Vance had grown in his ideological perspectives on politics.

What can’t be denied is that he made a clear flip that is one of the most drastic and public reversals in the history of American politics.