Ohio Republican Senate candidate JD Vance touts his venture capitalism for Ohio and his charity battling opioid addiction, but neither appears to be doing what he claims.
Business Insider dug deep into Vance and reported:
Plenty of politicians seek to bolster their image by pointing to their business acumen and philanthropic efforts. In reality, though, it’s not clear what, if anything, Vance has achieved through his company or his charity. A review by Insider of Our Ohio Renewal’s tax filings showed that in its first year, the nonprofit spent more on “management services” provided by its executive director — who also serves as Vance’s top political advisor — than it did on programs to fight opioid abuse. The group, which has shut down its website and abandoned its Twitter account after publishing only two tweets, says it commissioned a survey to gauge the needs and welfare of Ohioans, but Vance’s campaign declined to provide any documentation of the project. A spokeswoman for Ohio’s largest anti-opioid coalition told Insider that she hadn’t heard of Vance’s organization.
“This is a charade,” said Doug White, a nonprofit expert and former director of the master’s program in fundraising management at Columbia University, who reviewed Our Ohio Renewal’s tax filings for Insider. “It’s a superficial way for him to say he’s helping Ohio. None of that is actually happening, from what I can tell.”
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On the venture capital front, none of Vance’s investments are in the state of Ohio.
JD Vance Is A Billionaire Funded Right-Wing Extremist Who Built a “Brand” Off Of Appalachian Stereotypes
Vance has been criticized for years over his book that became the darling of coastal elites by stereotyping Appalachians as toothless, uneducated, drugged-out hillbillies.
Appalachia had struggled for decades with an economy that left and never came back, and an opioid crisis that morphed into a heroin epidemic when the opioids were no longer easy to get, but as someone who grew up in Western Pennsylvania, I can tell you that Vance’s book might be his own story, but it was not an accurate representation of an entire region.
JD Vance has pumped his accomplishments to include things that he isn’t actually doing.
Vance isn’t a Rust Belt savior. There is little evidence that he is doing anything for the Rust Belt. Much like his book, his political resume contains generalized fiction.
JD Vance is a poser who is looking to defraud voters in Ohio into electing him to the US Senate.
The Rust Belt needs real leaders, not self-interested political climbers like JD Vance.
Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
