Former President Donald Trump's running mate J.D. Vance was mocked online after his 2022 "Are You a Racist?" Senate campaign ad resurfaced and an X Community Note offered a concrete example of how he's twisted facts about his own upbringing for political gain.
Vance rose to national prominence with the publication of his 2016 memoir Hillbilly Elegy, which shot to the top of the bestseller lists and made him for a time the de-facto spokesperson for rural America.
The book has been highly praised by the right wing for Vance's insights on Trump's ascent within the GOP, as well as his reflections on the Appalachian values of his Kentucky family and the social and economic challenges of his hometown, Middletown, Ohio, where his maternal grandparents moved when they were young.
But he nonetheless omitted the facts behind his mother's drug addiction by linking it to the ongoing humanitarian crisis at the southern border that has galvanized so-called "law and order" Republicans who've asserted that migrants and cartels are funneling drugs into the country and contributing to a record number of overdose deaths.
In the ad, he states:
"Are you a racist? Do you hate Mexicans? The media calls us racists for wanting to build Trump's wall. They censor us but it doesn't change the truth: Joe Biden's open border is killing Ohioans with more illegal drugs and more Democratic voters pouring into this country."
"This issue is personal. I nearly lost my mother to the poison coming across our border. No child should grow up an orphan."
"I'm J.D. Vance and I approve this message because whatever they call us, we will put America first."
However, a Community Note below the ad presented a crucial fact Vance omitted:
"JD Vance’s mother utilized her position as a nurse to steal prescribed medication from her patients, not because of undocumented immigrants."
You can see the ad and the Community Note below.
During Vance's childhood, as recounted in Hillbilly Elegy, his mother, Beverly, struggled with substance abuse and addiction, sometimes allegedly becoming abusive towards him. Eventually, Vance was placed in the care of his grandparents, James and Bonnie Vance.
Beverly worked as a nurse, which gave her easy access to prescription medications that she eventually began to abuse. Her substance abuse created a dysfunctional environment and Vance said he was frequently the target of her aggression. When J.D. was 12 years old, Beverly was arrested, an event that left him terrified but also somewhat "relieved."
In fact, he once told conservative pundit Megyn Kelly that at the time he "was just really sad and felt very lonely because I’m sitting in the back of this police cruiser, they just arrested my mom, the relief of having survived another day was gone and then I just wanted someone to come and take me away.”
When it comes to the way he tried to twist the tale to advance his desired political narrative, Vance was swiftly called out.
Vance's lie should come as no surprise given his previous identity as a "Never Trumper" who once described Trump as "America's Hitler" and "cultural heroin" unable to regard the needs of the working class.
Additionally, he referred to Trump as an “idiot” in tweets that have since been deleted. During an August 2016 NPR interview, he mentioned that he might consider voting for Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton if he believed Trump had a chance of winning.
Prior to his Senate campaign, Vance apologized for previously calling Trump “reprehensible," telling CNN in 2021 that "I regret being wrong about the guy" while declaring that Trump was a good president.
Vance was named Donald Trump's running mate on Monday and gave the keynote address accepting the VP nomination at the Republican National Convention last night.
