Election News

Trump picks anti-LGBTQ+ Sen. JD Vance as his vice presidential running mate

He is wholly opposed to LGBTQ+ rights and once referred to Trump as a "cynical as**ole" and "America's Hitler."
By · Updated on July 17, 2024
J. D. Vance speaking with attendees at the 2021 Southwest Regional Conference hosted by Turning Point USA at the Arizona Biltmore in Phoenix, Arizona.
J. D. Vance speaking at a Turning Point USA in Phoenix, Arizona. Photo: Gage Skidmore

Former President Donald Trump has named anti-LGBTQ+ Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH) as his vice presidential pick for his re-election campaign. Vance once referred to Trump as “America’s Hitler.”

“But I’m not surprised by Trump’s rise,” Vance wrote in a text message around Trump’s 2016 campaign. “And I think the entire party has only itself to blame…. I go back and forth between thinking Trump is a cynical as**ole like Nixon, who wouldn’t be that bad (and might even prove useful) or that he’s America’s Hitler. How’s that for discouraging?”

Related:

LGBTQ+ Congress members all condemn Trump assassination attempt

One called out Trump’s leading VP pick for his “despicable” response to the shooting.

In his announcement, Trump said, “After lengthy deliberation and thought, and considering the tremendous talents of many others, I have decided that the person best suited to assume the position of Vice President of the United States is Senator J.D. Vance of the Great State of Ohio.”

Vance has expressed opposition to codifying same-sex marriage rights. He said he would vote against the Respect for Marriage Act, which aimed to protect same-sex and interracial marriages.

Vance once co-authored a letter to the U.S. Census Bureau objecting to the addition of gender identity questions in the American Community Survey. He referred to gender identity as a “harmful ideology” and “unscientific and untrue”.

He also introduced the “Protect Children’s Innocence Act,” which would ban gender-affirming care for individuals under 18 and make providing such care a federal felony. He proposed the “Passport Sanity Act,” which would prohibit the use of “X” gender markers on passports and limit gender options to only male or female.

Vance has criticized the use of LGBTQ+-inclusive language, questioning terms like “two-spirit” used by some Native American communities.

On his campaign website, Vance claimed without evidence that American political leaders are using the military as a “social justice side project,” criticizing the military’s focus on diversity and equity.

Vance also criticized conservative Supreme Court justices after they ruled in favor of protecting LGBTQ+ employees from job discrimination in the Bostock v. Clayton Co. case.

This past weekend, out Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-NY) criticized Vance after he blamed Democrats for causing the assassination attempt on Trump by calling Trump a “fascist.” Torres called Vance “despicably demagogic to their core” and said they chose “partisanship over statesmanship, even when the gravity of the moment calls for a moratorium on the usual partisan politics.”

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