On a Catholic Book Tour, JD Vance Calls Democrats “Terrible People” and Claims Trump Is Godly

The same week, he called himself a “conspiracy theorist” on the Epstein files and brushed past the two popes who have already corrected him — all while selling a book about grace.

Thank you for reading! Letters from Leo is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

JD Vance has a book to sell, and this week he sold it everywhere.

Communion: Finding My Way Back to Faith arrived Tuesday from HarperCollins, the vice president’s account of his 2019 conversion to Catholicism and the sequel to Hillbilly Elegy.

As I wrote earlier this week, the book arrives on a man whose Catholicism keeps colliding with his politics. To move copies, Vance worked through nearly every studio that would have him — Fox, ABC, CBS, the friendly podcasts and the cold couches alike.

He came to talk about God. By the end of a two-day blitz, he had told us a great deal more about his ambitions.

Begin with Sean Hannity.

On Fox Monday night, Vance was asked about Donald Trump’s spiritual life and offered a portrait that strained belief.