The Atlantic republished JD Vance’s 2016 anti-Trump op-ed on its 10th anniversary

Magazine invites readers to judge Vance’s ‘assessment’ of Trump, whom he called ‘cultural heroin’ during first termThe Atlantic on Saturday republished a JD Vance essay that dismissed Donald Trump as “cultural heroin” exactly 10 years earlier, bringing back to the fore his evolving from a critic of the president to his vice-president.In an editor’s note, the magazine said it was republishing the essay on the occasion of its 10th anniversary – and the US’s semiquincentennial – “so that our readers can judge for themselves how well his assessment [of Trump] … has stood the test of time”. Continue reading...

President Donald Trump tours the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library, Wednesday, July 1, 2026, in Medora, N.D. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)The Atlantic used the Fourth of July as an opportunity to republish a 10-year-old op-ed that sharply criticized then-Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, comparing him and and his MAGA politics to heroin.The author? JD Vance.The Atlantic republished a 2016 op-ed from now-Vice President JD Vance in which he referred to the promises of then-presidential candidate Donald Trump as a "needle in America’s collective vein."“We are republishing it on the occasion of its tenth anniversary, so that our readers can judge for themselves how well his assessment of the man he now serves as vice president has stood the test of time,” read an editor’s note from the publication.Vance’s July 4, 2016, op-ed, titled “Opioid of the Masses,” argued that Trump was offering the public an “easy escape” from their pain.“He never offers details for how these plans will work, because he can’t,” Vance wrote. “Trump’s promises are the needle in America’s collective vein.”The editor’s note stated that the piece was published not long after Vance published his memoir, “Hillbilly Elegy.” The book deals, among other topics, with the opioid crisis in rural America. In his op-ed, he wrote that “many Americans have reached” for a “new” pain reliever.“It enters minds, not through lungs or veins, but through eyes and ears, and its name is Donald Trump,” he wrote.Read the 2016 op-ed here.Vance, of course, went on to become Trump’s vice president in his second term. He has repeatedly addressed his once fierce criticism of the president —  including reportedly musing that Trump could be “America’s Hitler.”“I don’t hide from that,” Vance told Sean Hannity in 2024. “I was certainly sceptical of Donald Trump in 2016, but President Trump was a great president, and he changed my mind. I think he changed the minds of a lot of Americans.”Listen to Commons People, the podcast that makes politics easy. Every week, Kevin Schofield and Kate Nicholson unpack the week’s biggest stories to keep you informed. Join us for straightforward analysis of what’s going on at Westminster.Related...Trump Mocked After ‘Thieves, Radicals And Lunatics’ Line Backfires SpectacularlyTrump Revives False Claim Nato 'Were Not There For US' In Fresh Tirade Against AlliesTrump Stoops To A New Low With Latest Reflecting Pool Claim — And It’s WILD

The Atlantic on Saturday republished Vice President Vance’s essay, originally published exactly 10 years ago on July 4, reviving some of the more biting comments Vance made about President Trump prior to becoming his second vice president. The original article ran days after Vance published his bestselling memoir, “Hillbilly Elegy.” In an editor’s note, the magazine...