According to insiders, JD Vance, who is now the vice president of the United States and was elected with the support of Donald Trump, reportedly tried to help Hillary Clinton during her 2016 presidential campaign. A new report by Vanity Fair claims that Vance reached out to high-level members of Clinton's campaign to offer his advice or support as she sought to win the general election. Several people familiar with the conversations described to the magazine how Vance wanted to connect with Jake Sullivan, who was then a senior policy adviser to Clinton’s campaign. One intermediary recalled that Vance asked them to help arrange a meeting with Sullivan, though the intermediary thought it unlikely given Sullivan’s busy schedule. Eventually, Vance did meet with Sullivan and discussed Clinton’s strategy for key swing states, including Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Ohio—states that are often referred to as the "Blue Wall" because they had traditionally supported Democratic candidates. During the meeting, Vance, who is best known for his book Hillbilly Elegy and his background in the Rust Belt and Appalachia, reportedly warned Clinton that she needed to address the growing populist sentiment in the country. He suggested that she should focus more on states like Ohio and Michigan, rather than attending high-profile events in places like Miami, and that she should apologize for the Iraq War. Vance also reportedly urged Sullivan to focus on defeating Trump and to address what he called the "deplorables" remark—a controversial comment made by Clinton that was later used by Trump’s campaign to criticize her for being out of touch with ordinary Americans. Clinton ultimately lost the 2016 election, losing all four of the key states Vance had warned about. Her campaign was seen as being out of touch with the working class, while Trump capitalized on populist frustrations. Vance’s spokesperson denied that he wanted Clinton to win, stating that the claim was false. However, a person who had previously acted as an intermediary between Vance and Sullivan said that Vance had told them, “I hate Hillary. But I hate Trump more. Trump can’t win. He can’t win. Hillary’s going to lose, but she doesn’t have to.” This sentiment aligns with reports that Vance had previously expressed a dislike for Trump, even referring to him as having the potential to be “America’s Hitler” in a private text message to a friend. Vance has since addressed his past comments about Trump, acknowledging that many of his assumptions about Trump’s presidency and the functioning of American institutions were wrong. In an interview with Newsweek, he described the events of 2016 as a “crazy journey” and admitted that he had underestimated the challenges Trump posed. His past criticisms of Trump have been widely reported, and his shift in political alignment from the Republican Party to supporting Trump has been a notable part of his public career.