The Betrayal of the “Trump Whisperer”
JD Vance went from smart NeverTrumper to a MAGA clone. Why?
“Stab the body and it heals, but injure the heart and the wound lasts a lifetime.” — Mineko Iwasaki
In 2016, I started hearing about this young man that had written an autobiography of his life that was a peek into the lives of the white working class. He talked about growing up with a mother dealing with drug addiction and being raised primarily by his grandmother. Using his experience he offered some insight about this group and the public was fascinated. That book, Hilbilly Elegy, became a best seller. That young man, J.D. Vance became famous. It was the year when Donald Trump was the GOP nominee, upending the field of potential nominees by focusing on the anger felt by the white working class. He became known as the “Trump Whisperer” in that he talked about the struggles of this group, without offering Trump’s vitriol and race bating. While both Trump and Vance focused on the working class, they offered different solutions. Vance seemed to believe that the government needed to do more in helping the working class but was disgusted by Trump’s anti-immigrant stance. “I think that I’m going to vote third party because I can’t stomach Trump,” he said to NPR’s Terry Gross in 2016. In many ways, he seemed to be the anti-Trump, someone more thoughtful and…
