It’s not a rare thing in politics for politicians to have estranged relatives who publicly dislike them. Donald Trump’s niece, Mary, frequently criticizes her uncle and has written multiple anti-Trump books. Tim Walz, while running for vice president last week, had a group of cousins write a letter opposing him, and even Barack Obama had a half-brother, Malik, who went MAGA.
Now, a man claiming to be a relative of J.D. Vance has ripped the vice president for his stance on the Ukraine war, including his recent Oval Office berating of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. And the twist is that this Vance cousin has fought in Ukraine.
Nate Vance, the vice president’s cousin, gave an interview in French to the French publication Le Figaro. According to a translation of the interview by The Daily Beast, Nate Vance has expressed disappointment in his cousin’s stand.
“When [JD Vance] criticized aid to Ukraine, I thought it was because he needed to appeal to his electorate, that it was part of the political game,” Nate Vance said in the interview. “But what they did to Zelensky was an ambush of absolute dishonesty.”
Nate Vance, JD Vance’s first cousin and a volunteer fighter with Ukraine’s ‘Da Vinci Wolves’ group, slammed JD Vance and Donald Trump over their anti-Ukraine stance:
“Donald Trump and my cousin clearly believe they can placate Vladimir Putin. They are wrong. The Russians are not… pic.twitter.com/psE6Mj8soL
— Republicans against Trump (@RpsAgainstTrump) March 10, 2025
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“Being your family doesn’t mean I’m going to accept you killing my comrades,” Nate Vance added.
“Donald Trump and my cousin clearly believe they can placate Vladimir Putin,” the cousin said. “They are wrong. The Russians are not about to forget our support for Ukraine. We are Vladimir Putin’s useful idiots.”
Per the Beast story, Nate Vance is a Marine who volunteered for the Da Vinci Wolves First Motorized Battalion in 2002, presumably right after the Russian invasion. Also, he and the vice president are related in that they “share grandparents,” which would make them first cousins. The vice president’s maternal grandparents, known to Hillbilly Elegy readers as “Papaw” and “Mamaw,” had the last name Vance, meaning Nate Vance is likely the son of a sibling of J.D. Vance’s mother.
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According to the report, the Vance cousins have “vacationed” together, as opposed to the relatives who denounced Tim Walz last year and reportedly were distant cousins who do not actually know the Minnesota governor.
Nate Vance has not appeared to have ever surfaced in the media or publicly commented on his cousin until now.
Photo courtesy of Political Tribune media library.
