Republican vice presidential nominee J.D. Vance responded to the flood of media attention over what he once said about the former president in his first interview since being chosen as Donald Trump's running mate.

Vance was a never-Trump figure during the 2016 cycle, even serving as a CNN political analyst after the publication of his book Hillbilly Elegy. But he has since become one of Trump’s most ardent defenders, backing the former president in his successful 2022 presidential run.

At the Republican National Convention, Fox News' Sean Hannity asked Vance, "You texted a friend saying that Trump is a cynical asshole like Nixon who wouldn't be a bad bet and might even be useful, and that he's America's Hitler, and you compared him to cultural heroin in The Atlantic Monthly. … You said that then, what do you say to people who say, 'Wait a minute. What did he mean?'"

Vance responded: "I don't hide from that. 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 many Americans because, again, he brought that peace and prosperity."