JD Vance's 2016 anti‑Trump op‑ed republished by The Atlantic

The Atlantic republished JD Vance’s 2016 op‑ed titled “Opioid of the Masses,” in which he compared Donald Trump’s political appeal to heroin and described the president’s promises as “the needle in America’s collective vein.” The piece was brought back on the Fourth of July to mark its ten‑year anniversary, with an editor’s note inviting readers to judge how well Vance’s assessment has stood the test of time.

Vance, who later became Trump’s vice‑president after once calling the former candidate “America’s Hitler,” had originally written the essay when he was a critic of Trump and had just published his memoir *Hillbilly Elegy*. The republishing highlights his dramatic shift from a harsh critic to a key figure in the current administration.