by Andy Kroll, ProPublica, and Nick Surgey, Documented
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Sen. J. D. Vance, whom Donald Trump named as his vice presidential running mate Monday, told a group of prominent young conservatives in a closed-door talk in 2021 that they should stand up for “nonconventional people” who speak truth, such as Infowars founder Alex Jones.
According to Vance,” If you listen to Rachel Maddow every day, you have a fundamental misconception that MAGA mums who serve community dinners on Sunday and cook apple pies for their families are about to launch a violent rebellion against this nation.” However, if you listen to Alex Jones every day, you’d come to the conclusion that a international economic elite controls our society, controls our society, and most of them are likely sex perverts as well.
Vance went on,” Sorry, ladies and gentlemen, that’s really a devil of a lot more real than Rachel Maddow’s view of society”.
Everybody who was present for his speech, according to him, believed” something that’s a small crazy.” In his case, he said,” I believe the devil is real and that he works bad things in our society. Many of the country’s most educated citizens are currently being conned into believing that is a mad conspiracy theory.
Vance made these notes at a September 2021 meeting of the Teneo Network, an invitation-only group of young conservatives that counts elected officials, professional athletes, economic executives and media figures among its members. Five years ago, Vince joined Teneo. ProPublica and Documented obtained a video recording of his 30-minute conversation and question-and-answer program, which has not been previously reported.
Vance’s remarks at the conference, which you can read the full transcript of or watch in total below, demonstrate his unique unadorned stances toward various groups within the traditional and MAGA movements. ” I’ll put out the common promotion speech”, he began his Teneo speak. I’ll basically just try to be objective with you guys about what I believe are the main issues facing our nation right now.
Watch J. D. Vance’s conversation at a personal event on the Teneo Network that outlines the “big problems” facing the United States and how the liberal movement should tackle them. ( Obtained by ProPublica and Documented )
The Teneo Network’s president is Leonard Leo, the legal advocate who created a network of lawyers who view the Constitution based on the “original purpose” of the framers or the meaning of the words ‘ meaning when they were written, according to tax records. Leo, one of the most influential conservatives in recent years, helped verify all six of the country’s top six judges. Leo-aligned courts have pushed to hinder abortion rights and grip in the government’s power to regulate companies.
Leo has stated that the Teneo Network serves as a tool for expanding his effect beyond the court to sectors like Silicon Valley, financing, and media. Leo stated in a Teneo movie that the system “identifies and cultivates traditional leaders in other areas of American society and British life where things are really messed up right now.”
Vance joined Teneo in 2018, according to inner Teneo records, a year before he attempted to win the Ohio Senate. Vance was a commentator for CNN while running his own volunteer and investment fund to support startups outside of Silicon Valley, and his book,” Hillbilly Elegy,” had already become a bestseller.
JD Vance has been a member of the organization for at least five years, according to Leo, who noted that some young professionals who were present at the 2021 Teneo Retreat were pleased with his presence. A request for comment was never instantly received by a Trump campaign spokesperson.
By the time Vance spoke at Teneo’s 2021 event, he had joined the race to replace outgoing Sen. Rob Portman’s chair. Despite his previous accusations of Trump, which included calling the former president an “idiot” and comparing him to Adolf Hitler, Vance won Trump’s endorsement in 2022 and cruised to a secure victory.
Vance’s relationship with Teneo might open a dialogue between various Republican Party parties that appear to be at odds with one another. According to earlier reports, Trump and Leo, who provided legal counsel to the former chairman during his presidency, are no longer as tight as they once were. Russ Vought, a Trump supporter, officially denigrated the Federalist Society, the constitutional marketing class Leo and some built into a giant.
Leo’s community and the Trump 2024 plan are strengthened by adding Vance to the solution. It also strengthens relations between Trump’s election bid and the Project 2025 framework, which outlines plans for a second Trump administration, including firing thousands of job civil servants, shuttering the Department of Education and replacing ambitious goals to combat climate change with ramped-up fossil fuel production. In a recent TV interview, Vance said the document contained” some good ideas” but claimed that “most Americans could n’t care less about Project 2025” and that the Trump campaign was n’t affiliated with it.
He bemoaned in his Teneo remarks that, decades ago, major corporate CEOs had a reputation for giving to Republicans, but now they overwhelmingly do so to Democrats. He lamented that conservatives “haven’t lost every institution in American society” and that they must force corporations to “take the left’s side in the culture wars feel real economic pain.”
” So we’ve not just lost the academy”, meaning universities,” which we’ve lost for a long time, we have n’t just lost the media, which has been on the side of the left for a long time, we now find ourselves in a situation where our biggest multinational corporations are active participants in the culture war on the other side”, he said. Over the past few years, it’s really been a few of us who have come to terms with the fact that large corporations have really turned their backs on conservatives in a very powerful and powerful way.
He argued that conservatives needed to intervene against businesses that, for example, supported abortion rights or punished employees who opposed abortion access. He said,” We’re not serious about winning the culture war if we’re unwilling to make companies that are taking the side of the left feel real economic pain.”
He said that Americans were “terrified to tell the truth” and “point out the obvious”, including that” there are real biological, cultural, religious, spiritual distinctions between men and women”. He added,” I think that’s what the whole transgender thing is about, is like fundamentally denying basic reality”.
Vance drew criticism for saying” Alex Jones is a much more reputable source of information than Rachel Maddow” shortly before his speech at the Teneo conference. Jones, founder of the online show Infowars, gained a following with his promotion of conspiracy theories about the Sept. 11 terrorist attack. More recently, he was ordered to pay$ 1.5 billion to the families of the Sandy Hook school shooting victims by Jones calling it a hoax by judges in several states.
Vance told Teneo members that he was” just trolling” with his defense of Jones, but added” that does n’t mean what I said is in any way untrue”.
” Look, I think there’s a not-terrible chance that one of you is going to be sharing cellblock 12A in Premier Harris ‘ prison detention camp in a few years”, he explained, seemingly referring to Vice President Kamala Harris. ” We might as well have a little fun while we’re there,” the saying goes. Trolling is acceptable when you speak and make fundamental truths. But, look, I do think what I said was correct”.
If the conservative movement was going to survive, he continued, its members needed to” speak for truth”. He made reference to Ohio donors who had asked him to condone inflammatory remarks made by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene.
” And I say,’ Why? Why do you want me to denounce this person?'” Vance said.” ‘ Well, she believes these crazy things.’ Who cares”?
He continued,” Believing crazy things is not a sign of rejection.” Accepting someone should be measured by whether they believe significant truths, and that’s okay if they believe in some crazy things. We must tolerate nonconventional people.
Update, July 16, 2024: This story has been updated to include comment from Leonard Leo.
Do you have any information about J. D. Vance or the Trump campaign’s plans for 2024 that we should know? Email address Andy Kroll to contact him kroll@propublica .org and by Signal or WhatsApp at 202-215-6203.
