Hillbilly Elegy’s Vance Leaves Board After Controversial Tweets

(Bloomberg) -- JD Vance, the author of the best-selling Hillbilly Elegy, has exited the board of directors of AppHarvest, according to an emailed statement from the $1.6 billion indoor agriculture company.

The newly public Kentucky firm announced Vance’s departure in response to a Bloomberg News inquiry about some of Vance’s recent statements. On Twitter, he’d written that taxes should be raised on businesses that oppose a new spate of state-level voting restrictions.

He also called Fox News host Tucker Carlson “the only powerful figure who consistently challenge elites dogma,” after Carlson came under fire for saying that “the Democratic party is trying to replace the current electorate,” a frequent talking point of white supremacists.

Vance, who is currently a partner at venture capital firm Narya Capital Management LLC and is often mentioned as a possible candidate for political office, didn’t respond immediately to a request for comment sent through LinkedIn.

“His views are his own,” an AppHarvest spokesperson told Bloomberg News.

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