If someone handed you a blistering opinion piece comparing Donald Trump to a dangerous opioid and asked who wrote it, you’d probably start guessing Trump’s usual critics.
You’d almost certainly never guess Vice President JD Vance.
But that’s exactly what The Atlantic reminded readers of over the Fourth of July weekend when it republished a scathing 2016 essay Vance wrote at the height of the presidential campaign—back when he was one of Trump’s harshest Republican critics.
The magazine said it was bringing the piece back on its 10th anniversary so readers could “judge for themselves” how well Vance’s assessment of the man he now serves as vice president “has stood the test of time.”
The essay, titled “Opioid of the Masses,” leaves little doubt about where Vance stood in 2016.
Rather than portraying Trump as a political savior, Vance argued that he was offering Americans something much more dangerous: the emotional equivalent of a narcotic.
“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 comparison wasn’t accidental.
Vance had just published his bestselling memoir, Hillbilly Elegy, which explored the opioid epidemic devastating many working-class communities. Drawing on those themes, he argued that Americans searching for relief from economic anxiety and political frustration had found a different kind of drug.
“It enters minds, not through lungs or veins, but through eyes and ears, and its name is Donald Trump.”
It’s a remarkable essay to read today, knowing where Vance ultimately ended up.
The man who once argued that Trump was offering empty promises and an addictive escape is now Trump’s vice president and one of his most outspoken defenders.
Nor was this the only time Vance blasted Trump before joining his ticket.
He also reportedly compared Trump to “America’s Hitler” in private messages that later became public—a remark that has continued to follow him throughout his political career.
During a 2024 interview with Sean Hannity, Vance acknowledged that he had opposed Trump during the 2016 campaign but said his views changed after watching Trump govern.
“I don’t hide from that,” Vance said. “I was certainly skeptical 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.”
Whether that explanation satisfies voters is another question.
By republishing the decade-old essay on Independence Day, The Atlantic didn’t need to add much commentary of its own.
Instead, it simply handed readers JD Vance’s own word, and invited them to decide how well they’ve aged.
