‘Like a diary – only far more masculine’: what JD Vance’s blogs reveal about him | Arwa Mahdawi

He may soon be one of the most powerful people in the world. So what can we learn about Donald Trump's running mate from his online footprint?

Like many an elder millennial, JD Vance once had a blog. Two, actually. The lawyer turned writer turned senator turned venture capitalist turned Donald Trump's running mate launched his first blog during his 2005 deployment to Iraq. It was called The Ruminations of JD Hamel, because that was the name he was ruminating under at the time. Vance has gone by a few names. He has also gone through a hell of a lot of political opinions.

His second blog, called The Hillbilly Elite, was launched in 2010, when he was a 26-year-old at Yale Law School. It was meant to help him parse his feelings about being an Appalachian white boy ... training at the world's premier center for elites". When I say feelings", I don't mean silly little girly feelings. This was serious stuff. So it's like a diary," his first entry explained, only far more masculine."