GOP Ohio Senator JD Vance, the chosen running mate of former Republican President Donald Trump in the 2024 presidential election, seems to have decent taste in music and it's throwing people off.
Why? It's because the staunch Trump ally and advocate of his toxic rhetoric and policies appears to have Spotify playlists featuring music artists who were known to speak out against the twice-impeached, first-ever criminally-charged ex-President.
According to the Daily Dot, an internet sleuthing campaign uncovered a Spotify account with the username "JD Vance" that shared the same profile photo of him with his father at a 2021 Trump rally seen on Vance's personal Facebook page, indicating he likely signed up for the app through Facebook.
His alleged Spotify page followed notable profiles, including the bands, Imagine Dragons, Rage Against the Machine, and a Yale Law School classmate who graduated the same year as Vance.
The authenticity of this account has not been verified, but Vance himself revealed in January that he was a Spotify user, writing that he was "listening to the best of 1990 rock playlist" on the platform.
It hardly came as a shock when Trump accepted the GOP nomination at the RNC snoozefest last week.
However, what baffled the internet was his selection of Vance, which many thought made a peculiar partnership given Vance's history of being a vocal critic of Trump and a self-described "never Trumper."
The 39-year-old Ohio Senator once referred to Trump as an "idiot," called him "reprehensible," and even compared him to Adolf Hitler in private correspondence.
By the time Vance was named the ex-President's running mate last week, the former never-Trumper had successfully transformed himself into a full-on MAGA extremist.
He said in January:
“The Republican Party without Donald Trump is a disaster, morally and politically.”
After the media reporting of his Spotify account which included many anti-Trump music artists, Vance's conflicting public image left people scratching their heads.
The Spotify playlists appeared to have been compiled sometime between 2012 and 2013, and many of the artists listed have taken aim at Trump and the far-right contingent through their songwriting, in interviews, and with social media postings.
According to Slate, one of the playlists called “Making Dinner” included a wide range of selections, including Nat King Cole's “The First Noel” (which makes sense since it was created in December 2015), Black Keys’ “Gold on the Ceiling,” and Florence and the Machine’s “Shake It Out.”
The inclusion of Justin Bieber's “One Time" was one tune that particularly raised eyebrows.
While the Canadian pop artist appreciated Trump's efforts in 2019 to help rapper A$AP Rocky released from Swedish police custody, Bieber simultaneously asked Trump to "let those kids out of cages", referring to the migrant children who were separated from their families and held in detention centers at the US/Mexican border.
Another of Vance's playlists titled “Gold on the Ceiling” included artists who've targeted Trump, including Sheryl Crow, who in 2017 supported the call to impeach Trump; Lisa Loeb, who encouraged a blue wave and for Democrats to "get off their a**" and vote; and singer Ryan Adams, who apologized to concertgoers at Lisbon’s NOS Alive 2017 for Trump being “a f'king moron”.
The playlist included other artists and bands who've made their political stances clear, like Death Cab for Cutie, who released an anti-Trump song called "Million Dollar Loan" as part of a 30 days/30 songs music project in 2016 featuring contributions from musicians pushing for a "Trump-free America."
Also included were Tracy Chapman, who in 2020 made a rare TV appearance and called on Americans watching Late Night with Seth Myers to “vote to restore our democracy;” Billy Bragg, who condemned Trump's victory in 2016 helped by the “strong undercurrents of racism and misogyny in his support"; and U2, whose frontman Bono has long been an outspoken Trump critic and called him "the worst idea that ever happened to America."
Vance once said that the song Merry Go ’Round by Kacey Musgraves was his favorite. The song is included in the "Morning Has Broken" playlist, further indicating the Spotify account is his.
You can see a clip of him fanboying to Musgrave here.
Kacey Musgraves And JD Vance: Small Towns, Big Success | The Influencers | TIMEyoutu.be
It's worth mentioning here that Musgraves is a vocal LGBTQ+ ally and the recipient of the 2022 GLAAD Vanguard Award.
The country singer/songwriter's socially progressive lyrics have covered topics such as LGBTQ+ acceptance, and safe sexual intercourse.
Her smash hit “Follow Your Arrow", has become a gay anthem, with the lyrics, “make lots of noise, kiss lots of boys, or kiss lots of girls if that’s something you’re into … just follow your arrow wherever it points.”
Vance, on the other hand, does not align with the singer's view of LGBTQ+ acceptance.
Before he was a member of the Senate, Vance said he would vote against the Respect for Marriage Act, which federally recognizes same-sex marriage, and he said he believed "marriage was between one man and one woman."
According to a press release, he also stated, “The religious liberty piece of this is very bad," even though the bill lacked any language that directly implicated religion.
Vance also proposed the so-called “Protect Children’s Innocence Act," which would criminalize gender-affirming care for minors and block taxpayer funds from being used for it.
The bill introduced by Vance, who is not a medical professional, included falsehoods about transgender healthcare, used far-right, anti-transgender verbiage, and suggested the "banning" of medical procedures none of which are a part of transgender healthcare for minors.
While Vance's crafted playlists feature other artists opposed to Trump's toxic rhetoric, including Bonnie Raitt, and James Taylor, plenty of other artists opting to stay out of politics still made the JD Dance cut.
The most recent playlist was in 2014, with songs from Rockabye Baby! which performs covers of lullaby versions of songs by artists like The White Stripes and Elton John. The list was presumably created for his children–two boys, Ewan, and Vivek, and youngest daughter, Mirabel.
The Daily Dot noted that the Spotify playlists have not been updated for several years now.
News about his Spotify playlist emerged as the public account for his mobile payment app, Venmo–with a list of friends including GOP elites–was uncovered.
Maybe someone should've informed him about his privacy settings.
