Vice President JD Vance found himself going viral over the Fourth of July weekend — but not for anything he said in support of President Donald Trump.
As Vance dutifully shared clips of Trump’s holiday speech on social media Saturday, a scathing essay he wrote about the president nearly a decade ago suddenly resurfaced and shot to the top of The Atlantic’s most-read list.
The 2016 article, titled “Opioid of the Masses,” compared Trump’s political appeal to the temporary escape offered by powerful drugs.
“Trump is cultural heroin,” Vance wrote at the time. “He makes some feel better for a bit. But he cannot fix what ails them, and one day they’ll realize it.”
Over the course of roughly 1,300 words, Vance accused the man who would later become his political boss of exploiting the very real frustrations facing American voters while offering promises he could never fulfill.
Vance described that dynamic as a “great tragedy.”
“During this election season, it appears that many Americans have reached for a new pain reliever,” he wrote. “It too, promises a quick escape from life’s cares, an easy solution to the mounting social problems of U.S. communities and culture.”
He continued: “It demands nothing and requires little more than a modest presence and maybe a few enablers. It enters minds, not through lungs or veins, but through eyes and ears, and its name is Donald Trump.”
The essay was written eight years before Vance joined Trump’s 2024 presidential ticket and ultimately became vice president.
By that point, Vance had transformed from one of Trump’s most cutting conservative critics into one of his most loyal defenders.
The Atlantic republished the piece on its 10-year anniversary, allowing readers to revisit Vance’s original assessment of Trump and decide whether his warnings had aged well.
The result was deeply awkward for the vice president.
The essay quickly climbed to the top of The Atlantic’s “Popular” list, drawing renewed attention across social media.
“Congratulations to @JDVance on having the most popular article currently in the Atlantic! That’s huge,” one X user wrote sarcastically after discovering the old piece.
Atlantic writer Tom Nichols also highlighted its sudden popularity.
“We all slept in a bit after that remarkable, uh, whatever it was in DC last night, but pleased to tell you that @JDVance is still holding the top spot of most-popular articles on @TheAtlantic site today,” Nichols wrote.
The renewed attention came as Trump moved into the second half of his second term, with the article arguing that the president’s appeal was built on sweeping promises and emotional release rather than detailed policy solutions.
Viewed through Vance’s own 2016 argument, Trump was a populist who claimed to have answers to an enormous range of problems without necessarily having the plans to back up his rhetoric.
Vance’s warning at the time was blunt: Once the political high disappeared, voters would be left facing the painful aftermath.
The resurfaced essay also revived questions about Vance’s dramatic political evolution and how comfortably he now serves alongside a man he once described in such unforgiving terms.
Trump has also faced scrutiny over the years for struggling to name books he was reading or quote passages from the Bible, which he has called his favorite book.
The Daily Beast contacted both the vice president’s office and the White House for comment but did not receive an immediate response.
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Like many people, a young Vance had been warped into TDS by the lies of the LSM – LameStreamMisleadia FAKE NEWS LIARS… before he realized they were actually lying… and realized that not only did Trump have the right ideas… he also knew how to accomplish them… and could eventually do them…