This story was republished after former President Donald Trump’s announced JD Vance as his running mate. This story was originally published on July 12, 2024.
With Donald Trump’s pick for a running mate expected in the coming days, State Sen. Josh McLaurin joined “Politically Georgia” to discuss how his former college roommate, U.S. Sen. JD Vance, went from calling the former president “America’s Hitler” to the shortlist of possible vice presidential picks.
During his time at Yale Law School, McLaurin said he thought of the Ohio senator as a very thoughtful and charismatic person who had a chance at reinventing what it meant to be a Republican. However, as he and Vance grew apart, the Democrat from Sandy Springs said he noticed changes in his roommate.
“He was a lot more critical and cynical of the law school environment than I was to a point that made me uncomfortable, and that was part of the reason we didn’t stay close,” McLaurin said.
After Trump endorsed Vance in 2022, McLaurin publicized a text message he said was sent by Vance in 2016.
“We are, whether we like it or not, the party of lower-income, lower-education white people, and I have been saying for a long time that we need to offer those people SOMETHING (and hell, maybe even expand our appeal to working class black people in the process) or a demagogue would,” Vance allegedly wrote. “We are now at the point.”
The text continued: “I go back and forth between thinking Trump is a cynical (expletive) like Nixon who wouldn’t be that bad — and might even prove useful — or that he’s America’s Hitler. How’s that for discouraging?”
As Trump’s popularity grew, McLaurin said Vance shifted to identify closer with Trump.
With the Republican National Convention beginning Monday in Milwaukee, McLaurin said Vance is the most “vindictive and angry option” for Trump to pick for addressing inequality in America.
In a political environment focused on personalities and questions of President Joe Biden’s faculties, McLaurin said Democrats need to shift focus to issues that matter to voters, such as the economy, Medicaid expansion and reasonable gun control.
“President Biden has made attempts to come back and show some vigor, but it’s an absolute prerequisite for the job,” McLaurin said. “Do you have the energy to lead the country and take on the challenges that we all face?”
Monday on “Politically Georgia”: The team reports live from the Republican National Convention.
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