Washington DC - Presidential candidate Donald Trump recently chose Ohio Senator JD Vance to be his running mate, but it turns out the now-MAGA Republican used to be an outspoken critic of the former president.

On Monday, Trump announced in a Truth Social post that "after lengthy deliberation and thought," he came to the conclusion that Vance was "best suited" to assume the role of vice president.

"As Vice President, JD will continue to fight for our Constitution, stand with our Troops, and will do everything he can to help me MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN," Trump wrote.

Vance reacted in a post on X, stating that he was "overwhelmed with gratitude," as it is "an honor" to run with Trump.

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"He delivered peace and prosperity once, and with your help, he'll do it again," he added. "Onward to victory!"

Vance, who has been considered a top contender for Trump's running mate for some time, has spent the past several months aggressively playing defense and pushing support for the former president.

But critics have been quick to point out a number of previous statements he has made that contradict his current position as a hard-lined MAGA Republican.

Here are several damning quotes the Senator has said in the past about his new boss that he'd rather the former president – and their MAGA base – forget about.

During Trump's presidential campaign in 2016, Vance became well-known as an outspoken critic of Trump.

As a conservative Christian, he publicly expressed outrage and disgust after the infamous Access Hollywood tape, where Trump brags about grabbing women by their genitals, was released.

Despite his many flaws, scandals, and absolute inability to quote any scripture, Trump still somehow manages to maintain a strong hold on religious voters.

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Vance seemed aware that this was the case in 2016 and urged voters of faith to reconsider.

"Fellow Christians, everyone is watching us when we apologize for this man," he wrote in a now-deleted tweet from that year. "Lord help us."

In October 2016, Vance publicly announced on social media that he had planned to vote for Independent candidate Evan McMullin instead of Trump.

In a since-deleted follow-up post, he explained, "Trump makes people I care about afraid. Immigrants, Muslims, etc. Because of this, I find him reprehensible. God wants better of us."

In July 2016, Vance published an especially scathing op-ed about Trump with The Atlantic, where he likened the politician's popularity to drug addiction, describing it as "just another opioid."

"Trump offers an easy escape from the pain... Trump's promises are the needle in America's collective vein," he wrote. "He makes some feel better for a bit. But he cannot fix what ails them, and one day they'll realize it."

In an interview with PBS NewsHour in September 2016, Vance said the quiet part out loud when he shared the key elements that he believed helped Trump grow his loyal MAGA base.

"There is definitely an element of Donald Trump's support that has its basis in racism, xenophobia, but a lot of these folks are just really hardworking people who are struggling in really important ways," Vance explained.

"Definitely, some people who voted for Trump were racist, and they voted for him for racist reasons," he added.

Vance shared his harshest criticism of Trump in a private Facebook message to a friend in 2016, where he lamented about how the Republican Party "has only itself to blame" for Trump's rise to power.

"Trump is the fruit of the party's collective neglect," he wrote. "I go back and forth between thinking Trump is a cynical a**hole like Nixon who wouldn't be that bad (and might even prove useful) or that he's America's Hitler.

"How's that for discouraging?" he added.

Despite his previous stances and staunchly repeated "Never Trump" virtue signaling, Vance has rebranded himself as a hardcore, far-right politician and used his newfound position of influence to propel him to the upper echelons of MAGA leadership.

His transformation started in 2020, beginning with him scrubbing his social media accounts of anything critical of Trump.

In June, Vance was confronted about many of his past remarks about Trump during an interview with CNN, and he explained that he just had the former president pegged wrong.

"Like a lot of people, I criticized Trump back in 2016," Vance said. "And I ask folks not to judge me based on what I said in 2016 because I've been very open that I did say those critical things, and I regret them, and I regret being wrong about the guy."

The Senator went on to argue that it's not "what you said five years ago, but whether you're willing to stand up and take the heat and take the hits for actually defending the interests of the American people."