Vice President JD Vance reportedly tried to help Hillary Clinton’s 2016 campaign defeat Donald Trump , despite privately disliking the Democratic candidate, according to a new Vanity Fair report.
An intermediary who worked with Clinton’s campaign told the magazine that Vance repeatedly asked to speak with Jake Sullivan, then a senior policy adviser to Clinton.
Vance reportedly wanted Clinton to focus more on Midwestern states and address concerns among working-class voters. Vance’s spokesperson has rejected the claim that he was trying to help Clinton win.
He also said he believed Trump could not win.
Vance contacted an intermediary connected to Hillary Clinton’s campaign and asked to be introduced to Jake Sullivan, according to the report. Vance reportedly believed Clinton needed to spend more time in Midwestern states and speak directly to voters who felt ignored by the political establishment. He later changed course and became one of Trump’s strongest political allies. He never worked for a campaign, but he urged both Republicans and Democrats to care about working class towns like Middletown, Ohio.
Vance was a vocal Trump critic during the 2016 election and ultimately voted for independent candidate Evan McMullin. Vance later removed several of his old posts as he began his 2021 Senate campaign. “A lot of people asked the Vice President for advice in 2016. We 100 percent reject the characterization that he was trying to help Hillary win.”
PBS has previously documented Vance’s harsh criticism of Trump during that campaign, including his description of Trump as “reprehensible” and an “idiot.
