Before He Was a VP Contender, J.D. Vance Suggested Trump’s Sexual Assault Accuser Was Telling the Truth

Up until a few years ago, J.D. Vance viewed Donald Trump like a person who hadn’t been brainwashed by the MAGA movement, which is to say: He knew Trump was a dangerous individual who should absolutely not be in a position of power over the country. Fast-forward to 2021, though, and the Ohio senator was suddenly full of praise for a guy he’d literally once likened to Adolf Hitler. And now, if you ask him about his past comments, he’ll say things like “I just think the results [of Trump’s presidency] were so good…. I was critical of Trump in 2016, but he proved me wrong.”

Still, it’s important to remember exactly what Vance has said about the guy he’s working very hard to reelect. Like, for example, his thoughts on Trump being accused of sexual assault: In February, after the ex-president was found liable for defaming writer E. Jean Carroll the previous month, Vance claimed the verdict was BS. But in 2016, when he was asked about an accusation from Jessica Leeds, who said Trump groped her, he had a very different take.

Per Mediaite:

In a comment that had yet to be unearthed until now, Vance went so far as to signal on MSNBC that he believed the story of Jessica Leeds…. Leeds came forward with several other women who claimed they were sexually assaulted by Trump. She testified in the E. Jean Carroll civil trial of which Trump was found liable for sexual assault. Her account was dismissed by Trump and his media surrogates at the time of the 2016 race, but Vance argued during an October 2016 appearance on Hardball with Chris Matthews that he was inclined to believe Leeds’s claim.

According to the transcript of the show, after being asked what he thought of Leeds’s allegation, Vance responded, “This is sort of he-said, she-said, right? And at the end of the day, do you believe Donald Trump, who always tells the truth? Just kidding. Or do you believe that woman on the tape?”

To that end, CNN’s KFile reported last month that after the Access Hollywood tape came out, Vance liked a tweet that read “Maybe the Central Park 5 could take out a full-page ad to condemn the coddling of thug real estate barons who commit serial sexual assault.” (Trump famously took out an ad calling for the death penalty following the 1989 rape of a jogger in Central Park; while he never directly name-checked the group of young men dubbed the Central Park Five, who were later exonerated, many believe he was clearly referring to them.)

In addition to his comments regarding Trump and sexual assault, Vance has also previously said, of the ex-president:

Vance also previously liked a tweet featuring a photo of Trump and O.J. Simpson that read, “Here is an old picture of one of USA’s most hated, villainous, douchey celebs. Also in picture: OJ Simpson.”

But now? Can’t say enough good things about the guy.