J.D. Vance Says Racism ‘Definitely’ Helped Trump Win in Resurfaced Clip
In a resurfaced 2017 video, Vance called some Trump voters “racists” and said “race will always play a role in our country.”
Mother Jones
Former President Donald Trump’s re-election running mate J.D. Vance was caught in another resurfaced clip talking about Trump and his MAGA fan base.
In the video, Vance blamed the “well-educated and the alt-right” for a “hyper-racialized” 2016 election—and even called some Trump voters “racists.”
In the clip, reportedly taken in 2017 at the University of Chicago Institute of Politics, Vance added that race frequently comes up because “race will always play a role in our country.”
About the 2016 election, Vance said he “definitely” believes “that this was a racialized discourse unlike any that we’ve had in a long time,” sharing that he and his wife were targeted with racist attacks.
However, Vance laid the blame for the discourse ay the feet of what he called the alt-right and “well-educated” coastal elites.
In a newly uncovered video from 2017, JD Vance says, "Some people who voted for Trump were racists, and they voted for him for racist reasons." He goes on to say that the alt-right and Steve Bannon—but not Trump—helped make the 2016 election "hyper-racialized." pic.twitter.com/pPlJ7uNW5h
— Mother Jones (@MotherJones) July 29, 2024
“Like Richard Spencer and the alt-right,” said Vance in the video shared by Mother Jones Monday. “It’s telling that the alt-right is driven by primarily well-educated, relatively stable people. It’s not driven by people in the Rust Belt.”
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When asked if now-jailed Trump strategist Steve Bannon also fit in that category, Vance nodded his head in agreement.
In response to the video, one social media commentator pointed out,“@JDVance this didn’t age well?.”
Another pointed out that the video is a reflection of how quick Vance and other right-wing Republicans change their stances to garner votes.
“JD Vance originally, aka James Donald Bowman, wrote the forward on Project 2025. Most of the authors are aligned to Donald John Trump. Buckle up America, the Republicans have gone full throttle on their record of disinformation, habitual lies, division, hatred, & name calling. 💙,” wrote another user @Vonnie932.
Vance recently came under fire from celebrities and cat owners alike for alleging in a previously resurfaced interview that America is run by “childless cat ladies.”
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