Ron Howard ‘Surprised’ By JD Vance’s Embrace Of Donald Trump

“Hillbilly Elegy” director Ron Howard says he’s been alarmed by Sen. JD Vance’s (R-Ohio) political evolution over the years.

While stopping by Variety’s Toronto Film Festival Studio to discuss his new film “Eden” with the project’s cast last week, the Oscar-winning filmmaker reflected on Vance’s turn towards Donald Trump and why he thinks its more important to vote than ever.

Asked about the Republican vice presidential candidate’s political rise in the years since they worked together on the 2020 film adaptation of Vance’s memoir, “Hillbilly Elegy,” Howard said, “I have been surprised and concerned by a lot of the rhetoric coming out of that campaign.”

“There’s no version of me voting for Donald Trump to be president again, whoever the vice president was,” he continued. “But given the experience that I had then, five, six years ago … Yeah, I’d say that I’ve been surprised.”

While Vance called himself a “never-Trump guy” back in 2016, he secured his Senate seat with the help of the GOP leader’s endorsement in 2022.

Howard, however, has never been a big fan of the former president, calling Trump a “self-serving, dishonest, morally bankrupt ego maniac who doesn’t care about anything or anyone but his Fame & bank account & is hustling the US” in a post on X, formerly Twitter, back in January 2020.

And though the director made it clear that he won’t be backing Trump come November, he urged people to get informed and cast a ballot for the candidates they believe will be best for the country.

“Look, we gotta get out and vote, for whomever,” Howard told Variety. “But be thoughtful. Listen to what the candidates are saying today, that’s what’s really relevant, it’s who they are today. And make a decision, an informed one.”