J.D. Vance said Trump might be 'America's Hitler' in 2016 text message

J.D. Vance's former roommate on Monday released a purported screenshot of a 2016 conversation between him and Vance in which the now pro-Trump Senate candidate wrote that the former president might be "America's Hitler."
Josh McLaurin, who attended Yale Law School with Vance and has served in the Georgia House of Representatives since 2019, previously alluded to the conversation with Vance in a tweet posted Thursday.
In the message, Vance wrote that Republicans had neglected "lower-income, lower-education white people," leaving an opening for a "demagogue" like Trump. "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," Vance wrote.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
"The public deserves to know the magnitude of this guy's bad faith," McLaurin tweeted alongside the screenshot.
Former President Donald Trump endorsed Vance in Ohio's competitive GOP Senate primary on Friday, writing that although Vance "said some not-so-great things about me in the past," he "gets it now."
In 2016, Vance called himself a "Never Trump guy" and referred to Trump as an "idiot," Politico reported.
In a 2021 interview with Time magazine, Vance explained how he came around to Trump. "I sort of got Trump's issues from the beginning," Vance said. "I just thought that this guy was not serious."
Trump, Vance continued, "is the leader of this movement, and if I actually care about these people and the things I say I care about, I need to just suck it up and support him."
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Grayson Quay was the weekend editor at TheWeek.com. His writing has also been published in National Review, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Modern Age, The American Conservative, The Spectator World, and other outlets. Grayson earned his M.A. from Georgetown University in 2019.
-
'They are the builders, entitled to impose upon us their wildest dreams'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By Justin Klawans, The Week US Published
-
Elon Musk defends DOGE effort from Oval Office
Speed Read President Trump signed an executive order giving DOGE even more power to shape the federal workforce
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Modi goes to Washington
The Explainer Indian PM's 'clever' appeasement strategy could secure US president an ally against China and other Brics states
By The Week UK Published
-
Peter Mandelson: can he make special relationship great again?
In the Spotlight New Labour architect, picked for his 'guile, expertise in world affairs and trade issues, and networking skills', on a mission to woo Donald Trump
By The Week UK Published
-
Refusing to submit
Opinion Why it's crucial to fight Trump and Musk
By William Falk Published
-
Are we now in a constitutional crisis?
Talking Points Trump and Musk defy Congress and the courts
By Joel Mathis, The Week US Published
-
Trump's wildest unfulfilled White House ideas
In Depth The President of the United States is not one to let material reality stand in the way of a sound-bite ready pie-in-the-sky proposal
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Last updated
-
Judge says White House defying order to spend funds
Speed Read U.S. District Judge John McConnell has ordered the Trump administration to restore federal funding it tried to freeze
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published