JD Vance called 'phony' by hometown residents

“It’s not a terribly deprived place this is just a forgotten suburb of America.”

J.D. Vance has exaggerated the depravity of where grew up leading some to feel like "he's appropriating a poverty that doesn't belong to him", says The Times's Will Pavia.

[thekettlehead]

A man who does a 180 on his beliefs just to further his career shouldn't be trusted

[QuinnPrice]

Fraud? That would explain why Trump liked him. Birds of a feather.

[xyz]

There's nothing confusing about JD Vance. He's out to get as much as he can for one person, JD Vance.

[Karmazov]

JD Vance is where he is, courtesy of his sugar daddy, Peter Thiel. He ain't no hillbilly. He is now a multi-millionaire guy propped up and paid for by Peter Thiel.

[burgundybabyy]

Anyone who can't tell this man is a phony is a truly awful judge of character.

[raywalsh]

One question ... would Donald Trump have had dinner with JD Vance's family 20 years ago?

[AmbientMusicStudio]

You mean he's full of BS? Gosh, I'm so shocked. Who could have imagined?

[charmainehopkins]

Will the republicans mock JD vances family for his mothers drugnaddiction the way they harassed Hunter. The hypocrisy is staggering.

[alexstauffer]

0:44 did you mean "halfway between Cincinnati and Dayton"? Because Ohio is the state.

[danmayberry]

His book reinforced stereotypes. His abrupt change on Trump fits the transactional nature of MAGA.

[tangledcharlotte]

He grew up in a town outside of Cincinnati, Ohio. HIs family's annual household income was $100, 000. The family deteriorated due to domestic violence, profligate spending beyond their means, and his mother's drug addiction fueled by stealing drugs from her patients. HIs grandmother may have come up from hard scrabble rural poverty, but he didn't.

[hearmeout]

When you make it big, especially in the GOP, you forget about the small guy, not because you always want to but because you form new alliances and allegiances. Republican governed states remain the poorest in the country.

[dennisyoung]

“… do you really want to improve Middletown? You won’t do it with D.J.!”

[johnproton]

What economic reforms?! Giving tax cuts to billionaires and tax rises to working and middle class Americans? 😂

[lisamay]

After law school JD Vance has never had any jobs other than the ones Peter Theil arranged for him. If you think about it Peter Theil will be the United States Vice President should Trump win. Because anything’s Vance does likely needs to be approved by Theil.

[czarekp]

Trump needs the money JD Vance will bring from his owners Peter Thiel and Melon
then Trump's diet catches up with him and they got themselves the president

[michaels]

I just watched Hillbilly Elegy and as presented it was his mother’s addiction that led to his erratic dysfunctional upbringing. His grandmother likely kept multiple guns as a warning to her once alcoholic wife beating husband who lived down the street. There was a lot of trauma and instability in his young life. He was lucky to have a stubborn but caring grandmother, without her he might have never left town. I still don’t see how Project 2025 is going to help anyone but an upscale ruling class. Other than the addiction part we lived semi-parallel lives. I was raised by a single mom in the 1960s and early 1970s in New England, who worked, became a nurse, and collected welfare off and on at the same time. Yet we always felt poor. I was a bit misguided as a teen who went into the military, went to college, got married with 2 kids and eventually got my PhD. If not for the government aid received when growing up, we might have fallen through the cracks. I am grateful to the democrats who provided the safety net and have always voted that way and will again in this election.

[RosePetal]

It is interesting to me that he has spoken about his strong grandmother who helped to raise him, but the Republican Party appears to be anti-women

[barbaracarlson]

JD Vance is.not even his real name. We are watching more bread and circus shows.

[alexandrawhitelock]

JDVance is an opportunist…Trump has advancing dementia…possibly opening the door for him…I believe this dominates his views.