Full Breakdown
JD Vance’s Alleged Backchannel to Hillary Clinton During the 2016 Campaign
By Drooid · · How we work
Alleged Backchannel Effort
An unnamed insider claims that JD Vance, then a 42-year-old Republican commentator, contacted a friend on Facebook to arrange a meeting with Jake Sullivan, who was reportedly handling Hillary Clinton’s 2016 campaign. The insider says Vance urged Clinton to tour Midwestern “Blue Wall” states—Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania—and apologize for her 2002 vote authorizing the Iraq invasion, arguing this could blunt Donald Trump’s appeal. The same source alleges Vance repeatedly emphasized his hatred of Trump, describing the prospect of a Trump presidency as “America’s Hitler.”
Context and Prior Positions
Vance’s anti-Trump sentiment was expressed publicly in 2016 when he compared Trump to Hitler on social media. After publishing *Hillbilly Elegy*, he reportedly continued to seek ways to block Trump’s election, ultimately voting for independent candidate Evan McMullin. Clinton had previously expressed regret for her Iraq War vote in her 2014 memoir, but the insider’s account suggests she did not adopt Vance’s proposed apology tour.
Responses from Involved Parties
A source close to Jake Sullivan, now a Harvard instructor, said he has no recollection of Vance’s apology-tour idea, though he confirmed that Sullivan discussed Clinton’s “deplorables” controversy with Vance.
Implications and Commentary
Commentators and columnists have highlighted the episode as an example of unconventional political maneuvering, noting that Vance later aligned closely with Trump, including a 2022 defense of his earlier Hitler comparison. The alleged backchannel underscores the fluidity of political alliances and the role of personal animus in campaign strategy, though the claims remain unverified and are based on a single insider’s account.