The New York Times is diving into the past of vice-presidential pick JD Vance this weekend by publishing years-old anti-Trump texts and emails that Vance sent to a transgender classmate. In one communication, Vance called Trump “a morally reprehensible human being.”
The outlet published a piece Saturday containing excerpts of Vance’s correspondence to trans individual Sofia Nelson back when they were students at Yale Law School. The messages revealed more of Vance’s former distaste for Trump, a frustration with law enforcement at the time, and a tolerance for his LGBTQ classmate.
“The emails add to an existing body of evidence showing how Mr. Vance pivoted from a strong opponent of former President Donald J. Trump to his running mate. They also provide an insight into a cultural willingness by Mr. Vance to accept his classmate, Sofia Nelson, who is transgender,” the article, which has no byline, stated.
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Former President Donald Trump and Republican Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance. (Getty Images)
The piece, which is listed as being written simply “by The New York Times,” noted that this collection of emails included messages that were exchanged by the two Yale students between 2014 and 2017. The outlet explained how the two were friends from that time up until 2021, “when Mr. Vance said publicly that he supported an Arkansas ban on gender-affirming care for minors.”
Nelson, now a public defender in Detroit, told The Times that they hoped the emails will inform voters’ opinions of the GOP VP candidate.
The first excerpt The Times published was a screenshot from an email Vance sent to Nelson in 2014, which included some disparaging remarks about police following the death of Michael Brown, an African American teenager, at the hands of Ferguson, Missouri police officer Darren Wilson that year.
The Times highlighted where Vance wrote, “I hate the police. Given the number of negative experiences I’ve had in the past few years, I can’t imagine what a black guy goes through.”
Next, the Times showcased one of Vance’s anti-Trump comments that he made to Nelson in 2015, responding to the trans individual complaining that a Muslim friend no longer felt safe because of then-candidate’s Trump’s rhetoric.
Vance wrote, “I’m obviously outraged at Trump’s rhetoric, and I worry most of all about welcome Muslim citizens feel in their own country. But I also think that people have always believed crazy s—… And there have always been demagogues willing to exploit the people who believe crazy s—.”
The Times also shared a screenshot of an email of Vance apologizing to Nelson for accidentally referring to the classmate as a lesbian in his bestselling book “Hillbilly Elegy.”
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Former President Trump’s running mate, Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH), has addressed his former anti-Trump comments, saying he was “wrong” about the former president. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
At the time, Vance wrote, “I hope you recognized that the description came from a place of ignorance, when I first started writing years ago. I hope you’re not offended, but if you are, I’m sorry!”
The piece then went to another anti-Trump email of Vance’s from that same year, part of which read, “The more white people feel like voting for trump, the more black people will suffer. I really believe that.”
And in another from later that year, Vance told Nelson he believed that Trump is “just a bad man. A morally reprehensible human being.”
When asked for comment on the story, a spokesperson for Vance told Fox News Digital, “It’s unfortunate this individual chose to leak decade-old private conversations between friends to the New York Times.”
The spokesperson added, “Senator Vance values his friendships with individuals across the political spectrum. He has been open about the fact that some of his views from a decade ago began to change after becoming a dad and starting a family, and he has thoroughly explained why he changed his mind on President Trump. Despite their disagreements, Senator Vance cares for Sofia and wishes Sofia the very best.”
Vance has addressed his previous anti-Trump comments before. The GOP candidate told Fox News’ Bret Baier last month, “Look, I was wrong about Donald Trump,” Vance said. “I didn’t think he was gonna be a good president, Bret. He was a great president. And it’s one of the reasons why I’m working so hard to make sure he gets a second term.”