James David "JD" Vancenote (born August 2, 1984 in Middletown, Ohio) is an American author, politician, attorney, investor, and US Marine veteran who is the 50th and current Vice President of the United States.
Prior to becoming VP, he was best known for his 2016 memoir Hillbilly Elegy, which explored his childhood and socioeconomic problems in his hometown of Middletown, Ohio, set against the backdrop of his family being part of the Appalachian diaspora. He is a member of the Republican Party and holds traditionally conservative and right-wing populist views and rhetoric. Before becoming VP, he served as a US Senator from his home state from 2023 to 2025 after narrowly winning the 2022 Senate election against Democratic representative Tim Ryan.
Despite having been an outspoken critic of Donald Trump during the latter's 2016 campaign, Vance eventually grew to become a staunch supporter of the Donald, to the point that Trump selected Vance to be his running mate in the 2024 US presidential election, which they subsequently won against incumbent VP Kamala Harris and her running mate, Governor of Minnesota Tim Walz.
Vance is only the second Roman Catholic to have served as Vice President, after (perhaps ironically) Joe Biden. He also holds the somewhat dubious distinction of being one of the last people to see Pope Francis alive, His Holiness having died mere hours after a somewhat contentious official audience with Vance.
Portrayals of Vance in media
- Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis: book published in 2016 and Netflix film released in 2020. In the film, Gabriel Basso plays him as an adult and Owen Asztalos plays teenaged JD.
- Bowen Yang plays him on Saturday Night Live.
- He appears on South Park as a parody of the character Tattoo from Fantasy Island.
- SpittingImage's 'The Rest Is BullShit' features him in puppet form.
- The Fire Rises (Mod) an Alternate History Hearts of Iron features Vance as a possible general or country leader, or both at once.
- Kamalatale has him as a Minor NPC based on internet memes about him.
Tropes associated with Vance in media and portrayals in fiction:
- The Baby of the Bunch: His youth, especially in comparison to much of Trump's second cabinet (to say nothing of Trump himself, who's over thirty-eight years his senior), is sometimes mocked in many parodies who portray him as more of a naïve and dimwitted teenager or an outright child.
- Good Ol' Boy: some portrayals like Spitting Image really play up the hillbilly parts of him. portraying him with all manner of rural stereotypes.
- Gonk: Vance's facial features have been exaggerated countless times across satirical, often animated depictions, usually altering his face to look like an Ugly Baby or a comically unflattering chubby dude. A heavily altered image of him with curly hair, morbid obesity, and a scraggily neckbeard became particularly popular, to the point he wore a wig to resemble it to a Halloween party.
- Straight Man: Some parodies choose to have him serve as this in contrast to the more notable personalities of Trump and his second cabinet, it was especially common in portrayals during the 2024 election.
- Vice President Who?: Many parodies depict JD as being either a useless VP or a comically ineffectual sidekick to Trump.