• GOP Senate candidate J.D. J.D., GOP Senate candidate Vance, defended his controversial online rhetoric to show his "realness."
• Vance stated that he believes it is important for politicians to have a sense humor.
• Vance has publicly criticised Donald Trump's divisive rhetoric in the 2016 presidential election.

J.D., Republican Senate candidate J.D., Republican Senate candidate

Vance, the author of "Hillbilly Elegy", a bestselling memoir that won him wide attention in 2016, said to a Spectrum News reporter on Monday that voters should expect politicians who are "real people" with a sense of humor.

Vance said that while people may not agree with his rhetoric all the time, he believes our country is a joke. His campaign was funded by Peter Thiel, Silicon Valley billionaire. "And we should all be able tell jokes about it."

--Taylor Popielarz (@TaylorPopielarz) January 24, 2022

Vance's October tweet in which he urged Twitter to allow Trump back onto the platform, was specifically mentioned by the reporter. He wanted Trump to weigh in on the tragic shooting at the movie set of Alec Baldwin's "Rust" film. Baldwin was a long-time impersonator of Trump on Saturday Night Live. This was much to Trump's dismay.

Vance said Spectrum News that he was not the only one who wanted Trump's public comment on Baldwin's tragedy.

Vance stated that "everyone I knew was laughing about what Donald Trump would say if he were on Twitter." "So the idea that we can't have some offensive humor from our politicians sometimes is basically asking us to have all fake politicians."

Vance's Baldwin tweet was a particularly controversial one. However, Trumpian rhetoric has become more prominent in Trumpian speech. He uses terms like "degenerate Liberals" and "neurotic Lunatics" online to describe his opponents.

Vance took issue with Trump’s rhetoric ahead of the 2016 presidential election. He tweeted that he found Trump "reprehensible" as well as that God wants better for us. Vance has since stated that he was wrong about Trump and deleted many of the tweets he had posted criticizing him.

Vance stated Monday that politicians shouldn't be allowed to use "somewhat offensive humor".

He said, "Maybe it turns off some people, but I think that the realness turns on more people."