Before he became a Donald Trump-endorsed Republican U.S. Senator and now Donald Trump's vice presidential running mate, JD Vance indicated he believed Donald Trump had committed sexual assault, according to a new CNN report.
In 2016, JD Vance appeared countless times on television, as he did that September, less than two months before the election that would put Donald Trump in the White House. Vance at the time was promoting his new bestselling memoir, "Hillbilly Elegy," when he sat down with PBS NewsHour's Judy Woodruff who told the audience his book is, "a timely portrait of Americans who are often ignored and misunderstood."
One month later, continuing to appear on news shows and in speaking engagements, Vance talked about the plight of "America's forgotten working class," the title of his October 2016 TED Talk where he lamented about how "affirmative action" impacts "the white working class."
That same month, as CNN reported Tuesday, Vance also appeared in an MSNBC segment and was asked about Donald Trump's alleged sexual assault of a woman he sat next to on an airplane.
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Jessica Leeds, who in October of 2016 was 74, told The New York Times that during that plane ride decades earlier, Trump "was like an octopus," and his "hands were everywhere."
"It was an assault," Leeds alleged.
"About 45 minutes after takeoff," The Times reported, "she recalled, Mr. Trump lifted the armrest and began to touch her."
"According to Ms. Leeds, Mr. Trump grabbed her breasts and tried to put his hand up her skirt."
CNN reports, "Vance said it was hard to believe Trump’s denials over Leeds."
“At a fundamental level, this is sort of a ‘he said, she said,’ right? And at the end of the day, do you believe Donald Trump, who always tells the truth? Just kidding,” Vance told MSNBC, "sarcastically," as CNN describes. “Or do you believe that woman on that tape?”
"In October 2016," CNN adds, "Vance tweeted, 'What percentage of the American population has @realDonaldTrump sexually assaulted?' "
"In deleted likes from his Twitter account, reviewed by CNN, Vance had also indicated he believed Trump’s accusers and those who criticized Trump as a 'serial sexual assault[er].' "
“ 'Maybe the Central Park 5 could take out a full-page ad to condemn the coddling of thug real estate barons who commit serial sexual assault,' read the post, again posted just after the 'Access Hollywood' tape surfaced."
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"Another post liked in 2016 by Vance said, 'I wish there was a 2nd Vice Presidential debate just to see @GovPenceIN deny that Trump said he grabbed p*ssy.' "
Fast forward to 2023.
JD Vance's take on that alleged Trump airplane sexual assault became very different.
In 2023, "Vance said he believed his 'friend' Trump, just after the former president was found liable by a jury for sexual abuse against author E. Jean Carroll," according to CNN.
“ 'I think fundamentally the lawsuit is about something that happened 25 years ago. It’s a ‘he said, she said’ situation. And I trust my friend and the guy that I’ve known and gotten to know,' the Ohio Republican told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer, about six months after winning his US Senate race with Trump’s endorsement."
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