Atlantic republishes Vance's 2016 anti-Trump essay
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- The Atlantic republished Vice President Vance's essay on Saturday, July 4, 2026, exactly 10 years to the day after its original publication on July 4, 2016.
- The republished piece revives biting comments Vance made about President Trump before ultimately becoming his second vice president.
- The original 2016 essay ran just days after Vance published his bestselling memoir "Hillbilly Elegy."
- The republication includes an editor's note (text truncated in the source) framing the resurfaced critique.
Why it matters: Republishing Vance's pre-alliance Trump critique on Independence Day — a decade after Vance once positioned himself as a Never Trump voice before joining the Trump ticket as VP — gives readers a direct side-by-side of the politician's earlier rhetoric and his current White House role, at a moment when Trump's July 4 speech also drew attention to his second-term messaging.
