Former President Donald Trump may have been impeached twice, but he remains unimpeachable in the minds of his supporters, often at the expense of reality.
Trump remains the favorite to win the GOP's nomination for President in 2024 and Republican candidates in the 2022 midterms are leaping to ingratiate themselves with the former President in hopes of winning his endorsement.
Among those candidates is J.D. Vance—the author and venture capitalist who's currently running to represent Ohio in the United States Senate.
Vance brands himself as a pro-Trump Republican now, but he frequently slammed the former President in the early days of Trump's campaign and presidency.
Newly discovered Twitter messages between Vance and a friend during the first summer of Trump's presidency, uncovered by CNN's KFile, show Vance calling Trump a "moral disaster" while discussing the American Health Care Act—the failed Republican legislation to replace the Affordable Care Act.
Most notably, Vance wrote:
"Can you imagine running as an anti-AHCA populist who thinks Trump is a moral disaster? Where's my constituency?"
These messages come on the heels of resurfaced sentiments where Vance agreed that Trump was a "fraud" and since-deleted tweets calling Trump "reprehensible," for which Vance apologized.
According to social media users, Vance is now peddling the same fraudulent image he accused Trump of embodying.
Oh the sweet irony. Now this clown is exactly what he said Trump was back then. Morally bankrupt, grifting, reptilian jackass.https://twitter.com/kfile/status/1415404700443320322\u00a0\u2026— michael rose (@michael rose) 1626366015
Ah the Christian man isn't honest...https://twitter.com/KFILE/status/1415404700443320322\u00a0\u2026— Jeremy Sharlow (@Jeremy Sharlow) 1626308617
They\u2019re all such phony hacks. I can\u2019t believe people base their lives on the appeal of a criminal corrupt one-term failed president.https://twitter.com/KFILE/status/1415404700443320322\u00a0\u2026— zeph (@zeph) 1626303531
JD Vance is another spineless hypocrite.https://twitter.com/KFILE/status/1415404700443320322\u00a0\u2026— Vet4Biden (@Vet4Biden) 1626295828
Selling his soul. Ugh.https://twitter.com/KFILE/status/1415404700443320322\u00a0\u2026— avocats (@avocats) 1626295114
JD is also a \u201cmoral disaster\u201dhttps://twitter.com/KFILE/status/1415404700443320322\u00a0\u2026— Teddy Hoteham (@Teddy Hoteham) 1626294459
People are divided on whether Trump will support Vance's Senate bid in light of the author's critical comments.
@cnn, @DanaBashCNN, @AlisynCamerota , I predict that Trump will support the candidacy of J.D. Vance for simple trumpian reasons: he likes the initials, and he loves the idea of being the champion of "hillbillies" everywhere.
— Mike in Pasadena (@SweeneyME) July 2, 2021
Trump holds grudges, he will back door Vance just to teach everyone else a lesson.https://twitter.com/KFILE/status/1415404700443320322\u00a0\u2026— WorldMade (@WorldMade) 1626295674
Trump will not care as long as he supports him now, like many others, even the ones trump has himself trashed. Trump recognises that they can be easily bought.https://twitter.com/KFILE/status/1415404700443320322\u00a0\u2026— Tom Stamp (@Tom Stamp) 1626296086
Only time will tell.
@realDonaldTrump/Truth Social