Current Vice President J.D. Vance used unofficial channels to convey advice to Hillary Clinton's campaign in 2016 on how to defeat Donald Trump in the presidential election, sources told Vanity Fair.
An intermediary who worked with the Clinton campaign told the publication that Vance, through him, tried several times to reach Jake Sullivan, who served as a senior political adviser to the Democratic candidate. Sullivan later became national security adviser in the Joe Biden administration.
According to the source, he initially turned Vance down, explaining that Sullivan was too busy working on the Clinton campaign. However, Vance did not take no for an answer and later called again.
“I hate Hillary. But I hate Trump even more. Trump shouldn't win. He can't win. Hillary loses, but she doesn’t have to lose,” a Vanity Fair source quoted Vance as saying.
In 2016, Vance publicly stated that he did not intend to vote for either Trump or Clinton. He ended up voting for independent candidate Evan McMullin.
According to Vanity Fair, the conversation between Vance and Sullivan took place about six weeks before the election and several weeks after Clinton's controversial speech at a charity event in New York, where she said that half of Trump's supporters could be classified as “pathetic people” who have “racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic and Islamophobic” views.
According to the source, Vance urged the Clinton campaign to be more active in the swing states of the Midwest and advised the candidate to apologize for supporting the war in Iraq. In 2002, as a senator, Clinton voted for a resolution that gave President George W. Bush the authority to use military force.
“He listed Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania – what are now called the “blue wall” states. And he said: “She needs to come here, and not be with Beyoncé in Miami. She needs to come here and apologize for the Iraq War. “Apologize that so many people – people from my community, people from all these states whose sons and fathers died – were sent there and then simply forgotten about,” the source said.
By then, Clinton had repeatedly expressed regret about her vote for the Iraq War, including in a memoir published in 2014. However, she did not follow the strategy proposed by Vance.
Another source close to Sullivan says Vance also urged him to persuade Clinton to fix the situation following her “pathetic people” comments.
Vance spokeswoman Taylor Van Kirk did not deny that Vance may have advised either side, but disputed the assertion that his goal was to help Clinton win.
“He never worked for any campaign, but he encouraged both Republicans and Democrats to focus on industrial cities like Middletown, Ohio. “We 100 percent reject the claim that he tried to help Hillary win,” she said.
Vance's transition to the MAGA (Make America Great Again) movement occurred in early 2021. Then Ohio's junior senator, Rob Portman, announced he was retiring, and Vance decided to run for his seat.
According to Vanity Fair, Vance's change in attitude towards Trump was partly influenced by his intellectual and political rapprochement with billionaire Peter Thiel, who was one of the few major representatives of the technology sector who spoke on Trump's side in 2016. Thiel sent $15 million to a political action committee (PAC) in support of Vance's Senate campaign.
In 2021, Vance met Trump in person for the first time at his Mar-a-Lago residence – during an hour-and-a-half meeting, Trump appeared to accept Vance's explanations for his previous criticism, and Vance himself was impressed by Trump's “spontaneity and charm,” Vanity Fair points out.
