In November 2012, following President Barack Obama's reelection, JD Vance, then a law student at Yale, criticized the Republican Party's stance on migrants and minorities. He accused the Party of being openly hostile to non-whites and alienating Blacks, Latinos, and the youth.
Four years later, as Vance contemplated a career in Republican politics, he asked a former college professor, Brad Nelson, to delete the critical article. Nelson, who had taught Vance at Ohio State University, had invited Vance to contribute to a blog for the nonpartisan Center for World Conflict and Peace after his graduation.
During the 2016 Republican primary, Nelson agreed to Vance's request to delete the article to potentially facilitate Vance's job prospects in Republican politics. However, the article titled 'A Blueprint for the GOP' remains accessible on the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine.
Furthermore, Vance has faced scrutiny for spreading and defending false claims about Haitian immigrants consuming the pets of Springfield, Ohio residents. When asked to substantiate his claims, Vance referred to alleged firsthand accounts from constituents, although he did not provide concrete evidence to support his assertions.