WHAT’S IN A NAME

‘Anything But Donald’: How J.D. Vance Lost Trump’s Name

J.D. Vance revealed in his bestseller “Hillbilly Elegy” that his mom was not a fan of the name Donald.

J.D. Vance’s mom was not a fan of the name Donald, so much so that she changed her son’s middle name, as revealed in a passage from Vance’s book, Hillbilly Elegy.

Beverly Vance, J.D.’s mom, was in the crowd on Wednesday night when her son gave his acceptance speech to be former President Donald Trump’s running mate.

However, decades ago, she would’ve hated to hear the name Donald, according to Vance’s book, given that Donald Bowman was the name of Vance’s biological father.

She eventually went on to marry Bob Hamel, who would become her third husband.

“When Bob became my legal father, Mom changed my name from James Donald Bowman to James David Hamel,” Vance writes.

Vance’s mom “used the adoption to erase any memory of [Donald’s] existence. She kept the D to preserve what had by then become a universal nickname—J.D. Mom told me that I was now named after Uncle David, Mamaw’s older, pot-smoking brother.”

“This seemed a bit of a stretch even when I was six. Any old D name would have done, so long as it wasn’t Donald,” he added.

However, Bob Hamel and Beverly divorced years later.

Vance told friends when he was at Yale that his legal father, Hamel, was a “total stranger,” motivating him to change his name again.

When Vance married his wife Usha, both her and Vance changed their legal last names to Vance, his mother’s maiden name.

Trump has also struggled with Vance’s name, confusing Vance with Josh Mandel, his primary challenger.

“We’ve endorsed J.P.—right? J.D. Mandel, and he’s doing great. They’re all doing good,” Trump said during a 2022 rally in Nebraska.

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Owen LavineBreaking News Intern

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