How J.D. Vance went from calling Trump 'reprehensible' to MAGA heir-apparent

• J.D. Vance began bashing Donald Trump even before the former president took office.

• Over the years, he gradually went from MAGA-hater to MAGA darling.

• Vance has expressed regret for his past comments while celebrating his ability to change his mind.

Donald Trump has not only selected J.D. Vance as his running mate, but also appointed him the unofficial heir of the MAGA movement. But Vance hasn't always been all-in on Trump — in fact, he hurled some pretty nasty insults at the former president fewer than 10 years ago.

Here's a timeline of how Vance went from a "Never Trumper" to MAGA loyalist and second-in-command.

February 2016

Just a few months after Trump announced he was running for president, Vance texted a former roommate from Yale Law School that he feared the political hopeful might be "America's Hitler."

February 18, 2016

In a column for USA Today, Vance reflected on a GOP primary debate and said that "Trump's actual policy proposals, such as they are, range from immoral to absurd."

June 28, 2016

Vance published "Hillbilly Elegy," which focuses on his experience growing up poor in Ohio and Kentucky. The novel became a New York Times bestseller and, with its emphasis on the white working class, was largely seen as an explanation for Trump's rise. At the time, Vance self-identified as a "Never Trumper."

July 4, 2016

Writing for a magazine he now conflates with elitism, Vance said in The Atlantic that Trump is "cultural heroin."

August 17, 2016

In an interview with NPR, Vance said that he "can't stomach Trump" and that the former president "is leading the white working class to a very dark place."

October 9, 2016

After the "Access Hollywood" tape, in which Trump brags about groping women, surfaced, Vance sent off a fiery Tweet: "Trump makes people I care about afraid. Immigrants, Muslims, etc. Because of this I find him reprehensible. God wants better of us." Vance has since deleted the message.

October 18, 2016

Sitting for an interview with Charlie Rose, Vance said plainly, "I'm a 'Never Trump' guy. I never liked him."

November 8, 2016

At the ballot box, Vance did not cast his vote for Trump. He voted for Evan McMullin, an independent.

June 22, 2017

While discussing a bill working its way through Congress over Twitter DMs, Vance took another dig at the former president's character, referring to the former president as a "moral disaster."

February 2, 2018

Vance began to soften his tone in 2018 and lauded Trump's broad appeal. He told the Financial Times that Trump "recognizes the frustration that exists in large parts of Ohio, Pennsylvania, eastern Kentucky and so forth," and called the former president the "least worrisome" part of the GOP's problems.

March 9, 2019

While speaking at an event for The American Conservative, a magazine, Vance said that Trump's policies on China were a "wild success."

2020

Vance supported Trump's bid for reelection and cast a vote in his name.

March 2021

In a radio interview, Vance said that he came to support Trump because he was pleasantly surprised by the former president's policies.

"I didn't think the policy was going to be that good, and the policy was much better than I thought it was going to be," he said. "I was really happy with the policy. And so, that's what caused me to become a Trump supporter."

July 2021

Vance launches his Senate campaign, becoming one of many GOP hopefuls in Ohio vying for Trump's endorsement.

Around the time that he started his campaign, Vance became a frequent guest on "Tucker Carlson Tonight," then at the height of its cable glory.

August 24, 2021

Vance went on Fox News and lamented his former stance on Trump, saying, "I regret being wrong about the guy.

October 23, 2021

Cementing his loyalty to Trump, Vance told an Ohio newspaper that he doubted the legitimacy of the 2020 election. He said that "there were certainly people voting illegally on a large-scale basis.

April 2022

By this point, Vance's attempts to endear himself to Trump appeared to pay off — the former president endorsed Vance's Senate bid.

January 31, 2023

The next year, Vance offered an endorsement of his own. In an opinion piece for the Wall Street Journal, Vance celebrated Trump's isolationist foreign policy tactics and officially supported his reelection campaign.

June 13, 2024

Now firmly established as Trump loyalist — and staunch conservative in the Senate — Vance kept it simple in an interview with the New York Times.

"I like him," he said of the former president.

July 15, 2024

Clearly, the affection is mutual. On the first day of the Republican National Convention, Trump ended his dramatic veepstakes and selected Vance as his running mate.

In his first interview as the GOP nominee for Vice President, Vance proved why Trump chose him above all others — he spoke confidently and cogently on all things MAGA, from specific policy initiatives to Trump's fitness for office. He will seemingly be a loyal running mate and eventual vice president should Trump win. He said his could-be job would be to "support the president in enacting the agenda."

Vance did not shy away from questions about his former opinions and celebrated his ability to change his mind.

"I was certainly skeptical of Donald Trump in 2016, but President Trump was a great president and he changed my mind," he said. "I bought into the media's lies and distortions."

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