Source: Michael M. Santiago / Getty
JD Vance was confronted with his past labeling of Donald Trump as “America’s Hitler” in the vice presidential debate and on social media.
On Tuesday (October 1), the vice presidential debate between GOP Ohio Senator JD Vance and Democratic Governor Tim Walz occurred with some notable moments – including when the moderators confronted Vance with his past remarks about Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump. Those remarks included a private message he wrote to a friend in 2016: “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,” the message said, continuing: “How’s that for discouraging?” Vance addressed the comment, saying: “I’ve been open about the fact that I was wrong about Donald Trump,” Vance said. “I was wrong, first of all, because I believed some of the media stories that turned out to be dishonest fabrications of his record.”
The remarks were made when Vance was enjoying his success as the author of Hillbilly Elegy, his memoir about his impoverished beginnings in the Appalachia region. Vance, a Yale University graduate, had more liberal perspectives which influenced his views of the former president. Since getting into politics, he has become decidedly more conservative as a supporter of Trump, leading to his being selected ahead of other candidates such as Florida congressman Byron Donalds.
Donald Trump Jr. was reminded of that during an interview with CNN’s Kaitlin Collins as he was blasting the media for creating an atmosphere that led to the failed assassination attempts on his father. “The media has radicalized the people that are trying to kill my father. When someone allows people to have a platform to call someone literally Hitler, it creates it,” Trump Jr. began, with Collins interjecting: “JD Vance once likened your father to Hitler.”
The remark, and Vance’s brushing it aside, was not lost on those who watched the debate on social media. Many called out the moderators for trying to equate Walz’s missteps in the debate with Vance making that remark. Political strategist Rachel Bitcofer summed up the frustration some had in a post on X, formerly Twitter: “Not sure how you avoid asking a man if he still thinks his running mate is America’s Hitler.”
Check out the responses concerning “America’s Hitler” below.