As Senator JD Vance seeks the vice presidency, a former Yale Law School classmate and friend has shared about 90 of their emails and text messages, mostly from 2014 through 2017, with The New York Times.
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.
Nelson, now a public defender in Detroit, said the two were once close friends, but had a falling out in 2021, when Mr. Vance said publicly that he supported an Arkansas ban on gender-affirming care for minors. Now, Nelson, who opposes the Trump-Vance ticket, hopes the emails will inform the opinion of voters about Mr. Vance.
In response, a spokesman for the Vance campaign said in a statement that it was “unfortunate” for someone to share “decade-old private conversations between friends.”
“Senator Vance values his friendships with individuals across the political spectrum,” the statement said. “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.”
Here are five revealing exchanges in their correspondence:
Oct. 23, 2014
‘I hate the police.’
In October 2014, in the wake of the killing of Michael Brown, a Black 18-year-old, by a white police officer in Ferguson, Mo., Nelson raised the idea of requiring that police officers wear body cameras.
Mr. Vance responded with sympathy for those upset by the police violence.
Dec. 9, 2015
‘What seems different to me is that the Republican Party offers nothing that’s as attractive as the demagogue.’
In 2015, Mr. Vance was opposed to Mr. Trump’s candidacy.
In December of that year, Nelson wrote to Mr. Vance that a Muslim friend had said that women wearing hijabs no longer felt safe doing simple things like going to the grocery store.
Mr. Vance responded, referring to Mr. Trump as a demagogue.
June 29, 2016
‘I recognize now that this may not accurately reflect how you think of yourself, and for that I’m really sorry.’
In his book, “Hillbilly Elegy,” Mr. Vance referred to Nelson as a lesbian, and later sent a note to apologize.
Nelson wrote back the same day, calling Mr. Vance “buddy” and thanking him for “being sweet,” adding, “If you had written gender queer radical pragmatist nobody would know what you mean.” Nelson asked for an autographed copy, then signed off with, “Love, Sofia.”
Sept. 22, 2016
‘The more white people feel like voting for Trump, the more Black people will suffer.’
In September 2016, Mr. Vance shared a piece on implicit bias that he wrote for The New York Times following Hillary Clinton’s ill-fated “basket of deplorables” comment, thanking Nelson in the email for helping inform his thinking in developing the essay.
Oct. 4, 2016
‘A morally reprehensible human being.’
As the 2016 election neared, Nelson wrote of plans to go door-knocking for Mrs. Clinton.
Mr. Vance, living in California at the time, wrote that “I’m counting my lucky stars that I live in a place where I don’t have to vote for her (because the margin will be so huge), because I know I could never support Trump if it really mattered.”
Still, like many, Mr. Vance predicted that Mrs. Clinton would prevail, and called Mr. Trump a “disaster.”
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