Claim:
JD Vance once called former U.S. President Donald Trump "America's Hitler."
Rating:
Correct Attribution ( About this rating? )
Context:
In 2016, Vance wrote in a private message to his former law school roommate: "I go back and forth between thinking Trump is a cynical a**hole like Nixon who wouldn't be that bad (and might even prove useful) or that he's America's Hitler. How's that for discouraging?"
Shortly after Donald Trump announced his running mate in the 2024 presidential election — U.S. Sen. JD Vance of Ohio — a claim spread on social media that Vance once called Trump "America's Hitler."
"How do you feel about JD Vance being VP for who he believes to be 'America's Hitler'?" one Reddit post asked .
The claim was true. In a 2016 text message to his former law school roommate, Vance wrote: "I go back and forth between thinking Trump is a cynical a**hole like Nixon who wouldn't be that bad (and might even prove useful) or that he's America's Hitler. How's that for discouraging?"
The recipient of the message — Josh McLaurin, now a Democratic state senator in Georgia — made the text message public in 2022 , and several reputable news outlets corroborated its legitimacy at that time. Since then, Vance has acknowledged his past remark comparing Trump to "America's Hitler," stressing his views on the former president have changed.
For instance, in a 2022 statement to VICE for an article titled " Trump-Endorsed Candidate JD Vance Once Said Trump Might Be 'America's Hitler' ," a campaign manager for Vance said:
It's laughable that the media treats JD not liking Trump 6 years ago as some sort of breaking news, when they've already covered it to death since this race began. Clearly, President Trump trusts that JD is a genuine convert, as out of all the Republican candidates running, he endorsed JD and concluded that he is the strongest America First conservative in the race. … Despite the leftwing media's obsession with this old news, JD is proud to have President Trump's support and will stand with him to fight back against the radical left and the establishment RINOs as Ohio's next Senator.
In July 2024, after Trump announced Vance as his vice presidential nominee, various reputable news outlets, such as Reuters , the BBC and The Guardian , cited the 2016 text message again.
In a July 16, 2024, interview , Fox News' Sean Hannity asked Vance about his past comments about Trump, including the "America's Hitler" remark. Vance did not refute the allegation, saying "I don't hide from that," in reference to his documented skepticism of Trump in the past. But, Vance said, Trump's time in the White House "changed my mind" (emphasis ours):
SEAN HANNITY: But you didn't have the nicest things to say about [Trump] back in 2016, which seems like a long while ago right now. You know, you literally said, you texted a friend that Trump was a cynical a**hole like Nixon who wouldn't be that bad and might even prove useful, and that he's America's Hitler. And you compared him to cultural heroin in the Atlantic monthly. And I'll tell you Trump's response, but you said that then. What do you say to people that say, "Whoa, wait a minute. What did he mean?"
JD VANCE: Sean, I don't hide from that . I was certainly skeptical of Donald Trump in 2016, but President Trump was a great president and he changed my mind. I think he changed the minds of a lot Americans, because again, he delivered that peace and prosperity. If you go back to what I thought in 2016, another thing that was going on Sean is, I bought into the media's lies and distortions. I bought into this idea that somehow he was gonna be so different, a terrible threat to democracy.
McLaurin, who roomed with Vance when they were attending Yale Law School, wrote on X on July 15, 2024: "I'm the guy JD Vance sent the 'America's Hitler' text to in 2016. He was my roommate in law school."
He originally made the text message public via a different handle (@JoshforGeorgia), as seen via archived versions of that post (displayed below). McLaurin told us via email someone else began using that handle after he deactivated it, and he later started a new account ( @JoshMcLaurinGA ).
(archive.org)
We have recently investigated a similar claim that Vance once tweeted: "American hospitals are overwhelmed. It's time to take this seriously. As a start, let's fire thousands of nurses who refuse to get the vaccine. That will help."
Sources:
Eifert, Sean. "J.D. Vance Once Said Nurses Should Be Fired If They Didn't Get COVID-19 Vaccine?" Snopes, 16 July 2024, https://www.snopes.com//fact-check/jd-vance-nurses-fired-covid-vaccine/ .
Evans, Nick. "Vance Wondered Whether Trump Was 'America's Hitler,' Says Former Roommate Sharing Screenshot • Ohio Capital Journal." Ohio Capital Journal, 19 Apr. 2022, https://ohiocapitaljournal.com/2022/04/19/americas-hitler-old-j-d-vance-message-turns-up-in-heated-senate-primary/ .
"JD Vance on Trump Asking Him to Be VP: 'A Moment I'll Never Forget' | Fox News Video." Fox News, 16 July 2024, https://www.foxnews.com/video/6358113662112 .
Joseph, Cameron. "Trump-Endorsed Candidate JD Vance Once Said Trump Might Be 'America's Hitler.'" Vice, 18 Apr. 2022, https://www.vice.com/en/article/bvn4b8/jd-vance-trump-messages .
Newshour - What Was It like to Be JD Vance's Roommate? - BBC Sounds. https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p0jbsl3m . Accessed 18 July 2024.
Pengelly, Martin. "JD Vance Once Worried Trump Was 'America's Hitler'. Now His Own Authoritarian Leanings Come into View." The Guardian, 16 July 2024. The Guardian, https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/jul/16/jd-vance-political-views-trump .
Slattery, Gram, et al. "J.D. Vance Once Compared Trump to Hitler. Now They Are Running Mates." Reuters, 15 July 2024. www.reuters.com, https://www.reuters.com/world/us/jd-vance-once-compared-trump-hitler-now-they-are-running-mates-2024-07-15/ .
Who Is Trump's Vice President Pick, JD Vance? https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cn07dv4mrg2o . Accessed 18 July 2024.
Updates:
July 18, 2024: This report was updated to clarify JD Vance and Josh McLaurin were law school roommates and to explain the status of McLaurin's previous X account.
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