FALSE PROPHET

J.D. Vance

2024 Republican Vice Presidential Nominee

Freshman Senator J.D. Vance of Ohio is the 2024 Republican Vice Presidential candidate. A well-known hypocrite, right-wing Catholic and opponent of women who own cats, Vance called Trump an “idiot” and “America’s Hitler” in 2016. 

Vance, who converted as an adult to Catholicism, adheres to a far-right branch of the Church that, as reported by Jack Jenkins of Religion News Service, shares “many of the same policy goals as popular forms of Christian nationalism," particularly with respect to the relationship between religion and government.

Indeed, he’s rejected the separation of church and state, believing that the “optimal state” is “pretty aligned with Catholic social teaching.” He also supports election denial and seeks to repeal basic freedoms like abortion access and LGBTQ rights. 

Professor Kristin Kobes Du Mez, author of Jesus and John Wayne, says Vance's defense of toxic masculinity—including his praise of the Kenosha murderer Kyle Rittenhouse—"is closely linked to Christian nationalism." He also dismissed criticism of the violent Charlottesville march as a "ridiculous race hoax." He has mocked people traumatized by the January 6 Christian-nationalist insurrection and praised Hungary’s authoritarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.

Vance uses racist rhetoric against immigrants, supports mass deportations, and has even echoed the antisemitic, fear-mongering Great Replacement conspiracy theory that wrongly says Democrats want immigrants to replace white Americans.

Like fellow False Prophet Sen. Josh Hawley, Vance has a close relationship with billionaire Peter Thiel and Leonard Leo, another False Prophet.

Vance’s Christian Nationalist Rhetoric

  • Misrepresented and critiqued feminism, tweeting, “If your worldview tells you that it’s bad for women to become mothers but liberating for them to work 90 hours a week in a cubicle at the New York Times or Goldman Sachs, you’ve been had.”

  • Linking faith to policy, part one: “Importantly, talking about policy views, I’m a very pro-life person. It was always very meaningful to me that Catholics were always very firm on the life question. So, on a lot of these moral questions, I just saw that particular part of Christianity as a really good home for me and for my family, and that’s where we are."

  • Linking faith to policy, part two: “My views on public policy and what the optimal state should look like are pretty aligned with Catholic social teaching. That was one of the things that drew me to the Catholic Church. I saw a real overlap between what I would like to see and what the Catholic Church would like to see.” (Despite this quote, Vance does not follow Catholic social teaching on the environment or immigration.)

  • Suggested that people in violent marriages should not get divorced

  • Released a nativist campaign ad that began: “Are you a racist? Do you hate Mexicans? The media calls us racist for wanting to build Trump’s wall.”

  • Has appeared on Christian nationalist movement leader and fellow False Prophet Steve Bannon’s show ‘War Room’

  • Signed a deal with HarperCollins for a second book titled "A Relevant Faith: Searching for a Meaningful American Christianity." The book was dropped without explanation in May 2022.

Vance’s Christian Nationalist Policy Positions