Eight years ago, in the lead-up to the 2016 presidential election, MAGA loyalist JD Vance was one of Trump’s most vociferous critics, even reportedly comparing him to Hitler.

Reuters reports that publicly, he called the Republican presidential candidate an “idiot” and said he was “reprehensible.” And that privately, he compared him to Adolf Hitler.

This has led to many people questioning what JD Vance actually stands for, and wondering: is he driven more by opportunism than by personal ideology? It seems highly likely.

Take, for example, his current strong anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric and his support for bills that ban gender affirming care, compared to his far more accepting stance in the past.

JD Vance says gender-affirming care is “conversion therapy”

His opinion about Trump isn’t the only time Vance has carried out a screeching U-turn when it comes to his personal beliefs. At university, one of his best friends was a transgender woman.

Sofia Nelson is a lawyer who met Vance at Yale Law School and bonded with him over their shared Midwestern, working-class backgrounds, and she says that Vance has done a “flipflip on every conceivable issue” since then.

Nelson even attended Vance’s wedding and the pair visited each other several times over the past decade.

Their friendship has changed drastically in recent years. In previous interviews, Nelson said that the Vance they knew is not the same one the public has been introduced to on the campaign trail.

“I’m heartbroken by the transformation that they’ve decided to undergo… The JD that I got to know in law school… was thoughtful and compassionate. We obviously didn’t share a common politics, but growing up in Wayland, Michigan, it was nothing new to me to develop friendships and respect across the political divide,” Nelson told the Detroit Free Press.

Vance has also been accused of hypocrisy after old photographs of him in drag resurfaced, despite him vocally opposing LGBTQ+ rights and often voicing anti-trans views. 

Most recently, Republican vice-presidential candidate JD Vance has, for some reason, felt the need to insist that he isn’t gay, while claiming that gender-affirming care is a form of “conversion therapy”.

JD Vance, who has previously shared contentious views about people who do not have biological children, even accusing a lesbian stepmother of being childless and of “brainwashing kids”, has once again turned his attention to transgender people. 

Also taking a break from talking about women’s reproductive autonomy, the junior senator from Ohio hit out at gender-affirming care while speaking to gay conservative podcaster Tim Dillon. 

Repeating right-wing transphobic talking points, Vance claimed that medical professionals were trying to make gay children believe they were transgender.

Gender-affirming care, he seemed to be saying, was being used to turn gay youngsters into trans youngsters.

“I’m not a gay guy but I’ve heard this from gay friends,” Vance said. 

JD Vance: “I’m not a gay guy”
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— PatriotTakes

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