Vance Gives Perfect Response After 'View' Host Brings Up His Past Criticism of Trump
Vice President J.D. Vance gave the perfect answer Tuesday when pressed by one of the co-hosts of “The View” about his past critical statements of President Donald Trump.
During the 2016 presidential campaign, Vance, who was known at the time as the best-selling author of “Hillbilly Elegy” and a political commentator, was in the Never Trump camp.
PBS and many other outlets raised the issue during Trump’s 2024 campaign, noting that Vance told NPR in 2016, “I can’t stomach Trump,” and wrote in an op-ed for The New York Times: “Mr. Trump is unfit for our nation’s highest office.”
Further, in a private text to a former roommate, he wrote that he did not vote for Trump in 2016 and suggested that he could be “America’s Hitler.”
However, by 2021, Vance had become a Trump supporter, and the 45th president in fact endorsed the Ohioan’s 2022 U.S. Senate candidacy in a crowded Republican primary field.
On Tuesday, “View” co-host Sara Haines also quoted Vance, saying about Trump in 2016, “Fellow Christians, everyone is watching when we apologize for this man. Lord, help us.”
She then put it to Vance, “Help me find the words to explain to my children what they’re witnessing right now.”
So, Haines made a very confrontational statement, implying that Trump, and presumably the administration he leads, is doing a poor, even shameful job. That’s certainly the sentiment the hosts of “The View” express, it seems, on pretty much every episode, but a bit surprising to say right to the vice president’s face.
Vance responded to Haines, saying, “It’s been well-covered that I was a critic of Donald Trump back in 2015 and 2016. Now, obviously, I’m sitting here as the vice president of the United States in the Trump administration.”
“Yeah, what happened?” co-host Joy Behar interjected.
“Well, Joy, a little humility, actually. I think that when you make predictions, and those predictions turn out to be false, you’ve got to ask yourself, ‘What made me wrong about that? What did I not understand or not appreciate?'” Vance answered.
“For example, I said that Donald Trump’s economic policies would not lead to wage growth — they did in the first term. That was actually a major, major thing,” he continued.
“I said that we couldn’t bring back any of those factory jobs, because I’d kind of given in to this idea that those jobs were disappearing, but actually, Donald Trump, you saw manufacturing boom during that administration,” Vance said.
.@VP on coming to appreciate @POTUS: “I said that Donald Trump’s economic policies would not lead to wage growth — they did in the first term… I said that we couldn’t bring back any of those factory jobs… you saw manufacturing boom during that administration.” pic.twitter.com/ZcWlyVQpHN
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) June 16, 2026
The economy boomed during Trump’s first term, with unemployment reaching its lowest level since the 1960s, and for minorities, the lowest ever recorded. Further, there was a net gain of 350,000 factory jobs during that term by March 2020, before the pandemic, CBS News reported.
Middle-class real median incomes surged by over $5,000 during that time frame following the passage of Trump’s Tax Cuts and Jobs Act in 2017, the slashing of federal regulations, and the unleashing of American energy production, according to economist Stephen Moore.
Vance concluded, “In politics or in anything, I think it’s important to just say, ‘You know what? I got some things wrong, and I was wrong about him.’ He was a very successful president. It’s one of the reasons why I have been so supportive of him.”
Haines admitted in January 2025, shortly after Trump took office for his second term, that none of them had voted for him.
A study by the Media Research Center found that there were only two conservative guests on the show all last year.
So, all things considered, Vance’s appearance on “The View” went well.
ROARING APPLAUSE FOR OUR VICE PRESIDENT — EVEN ON THE VIEW! @VP pic.twitter.com/oNV4u4vcr5
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) June 16, 2026
He was able to promote his new book, “Communion: Finding My Way Back to Faith,” and the hosts offered a decent level of respect.
Surprise, surprise — the program actually featured a differing viewpoint!
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