Since last year, CNN host Erin Burnett several times has had on a liberal and transgender former Yale classmate of Vice President JD Vance to complain about the Trump administration's policies on transgenders and other issues. Vice President Vance's former friend made two previous appearances with Burnett -- in July and in September -- and trashed Vance as a "chameleon" and "fraud," and someone who has become "callous and divisive."
Last year, Nelson shared a pile of old email exchanges with Vance with Burnett as well as the New York Times -- anything to get Trump-Vance defeated.
On Friday's Erin Burnett OutFront, Sofia Nelson appeared for the third time since July, this time to respond to the removal of the word "transgender" from federal government websites and Vance's recent criticism of judicial overreach. The CNN host set up the segment:
Tonight, the courts dealing Trump a setback. A second federal judge temporarily blocking an executive order rolling back transgender rights. Trump has announced four orders so far rolling those rights back, including purging all government websites of the word "transgender." The latest is the webpage for the Stonewall National Monument which was the birthplace of the gay rights movement where transgender activists played a crucial role. Now, shortening LGBTQ to LGB.
After recalling that, back in 2012, Vance had been supportive of Nelson going through "gender-affirming" surgery, Burnett began by posing: "What has gone through your mind as you have seen this unfold so quickly?"
Nelson complained:
It's just been a furious pace, and the breadth of orders and the quickness of them have been shocking. I suppose I shouldn't have been so naive, but I was hopeful that it wouldn't be quite as bad as people are predicting. And it's been as bad if not worse. There seems to be a very concerted effort to erase trans people from public life and from the history books.
After noting a couple of transgenders who were involved in the Stonewall uprising, the analysis continued:
And to erase that history -- to rewrite history, that's a real authoritarian move, Erin, and it's part of this overall effort to erase trans people from public life and from history. But the truth is, we've always been here, and we will always be here. And they can try as hard as they would like, but we're not going anywhere.
Burnett then cued up her liberal guest to take exception with Vice President Vance's recent tweet asserting that the courts do not have the right to block the "legitimate" exercise of executive power, leading Nelson to suggest that Vance was denying the basic principle of judicial review set by Marbury vs. Madison even though Vance's use of the word "legitimate" would seem to make a distinction from a President trying to take illegitimate actions not supported by the Constitution.
Transcripts follow:
CNN's Erin Burnett OutFront
February 14, 2025
7:42 p.m.
BURNETT: Tonight, the courts dealing Trump a setback. A second federal judge temporarily blocking an executive order rolling back transgender rights. Trump has announced four orders so far rolling those rights back, including purging all government websites of the word "transgender." The latest is the webpage for the Stonewall National Monument which was the birthplace of the gay rights movement where transgender activists played a crucial role. Now, shortening LGBTQ to LGB.
"OutFront" now, Sofia Nelson, a former close friend and Yale Law School classmate of Vice President JD Vance. And Sofia familiar to so many of our viewers, but this is the first time, you know, you and I have talked since Trump and Vance won the election. And, you know, we talked prior to that about how he supported you when you had your own gender-affirming surgery back in 2012, but now here in these past few weeks we've seen executive order after executive order rolling back transgender rights. I mean, have you processed that? What has gone through your mind as you have seen this unfold so quickly?
NELSON: Thank you for having me, Erin, and good evening. It's just been a furious pace, and the breadth of orders and the quickness of them have been shocking. I suppose I shouldn't have been so naive, but I was hopeful that it wouldn't be quite as bad as people are predicting. And it's been as bad if not worse. There seems to be a very concerted effort to erase trans people from public life and from the history books. We know that Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera are heroes of the transgender community and of the LGBT rights movement, and were at the forefront of the Stonewall uprising. And they led what became the modern day LGBT rights movement, which is memorialized at the Stonewall National Monument. And to erase that history -- to rewrite history, that's a real authoritarian move, Erin, and it's part of this overall effort to erase trans people from public life and from history. But the truth is, we've always been here, and we will always be here. And they can try as hard as they would like, but we're not going anywhere.
BURNETT: I mean, Vance has spoken about the showdown that the Trump administration has had with the courts so far. We talk about the order today, you know, being put on pause by a judge for the second time. And that's happened on other topics as well. But Vance said, Sofia: "Judges aren't allowed to control the executive's legitimate power." Now, you're a public defender now. You went to law school with Vance. So what's your reaction when you see him post something like that? "Judge's aren't allowed to control the executive's legitimate power."
NELSON: So Vance -- JD and I actually took constitutional law together, so we read and analyzed Marbury vs. Madison together. That is the Article III power of the judiciary -- that's what separation of powers means. Congress writes the laws, the executive enacts laws, and the judiciary gets to decide whether a law is constitutional and an executive action is constitutional. So what the courts are doing right now is exactly what they were designed to do by the Constitution and by our Founding Fathers. And that's been the case since 1808 and the U.S. Supreme Court decision of Marbury vs. Madison. I mean, what we're facing right now is the beginning of a constitutional crisis. And this isn't the first time. I mean, JD's tweet was surprising to me. He said that previously, you know, kind of admiring this Andrew Jackson, "Well, let them come -- let's see them come and enforce it" style, and it's incredibly dangerous. It's a thing of authoritarians ignoring the courts. It's something authoritarians do.
CNN's Erin Burnett OutFront
September 30, 2024
7:52 p.m. Eastern
NELSON: But, more importantly, Erin, this is just not an issue that affects everyday people. I don't go around asking people what medication they're on -- what surgeries they've had because, like Tim Walz, I know how to mind my own damn business. And I don't think that, whether I've had surgery or whether someone else has surgery is important to everyday Americans. This election is about freedom, it's about privacy, and it's about everyday economic issues, kitchen table issues. And that's -- this is just a distraction -- it's another way of dividing us. It's another way of spewing hate and fear, and to distract from the important economic issues like which side is pro-union. Which side is going to help Americans afford their first home with down payment assistance. ...
(...)
BURNETT: Who do you think the real JD Vance is?
NELSON: Yeah, could the real JD Vance please stand up? I don't think anybody knows, right? We've had many different iterations of JD Vance. He's a chameleon, he's a fraud, and he's out for power and wealth. And I think that shows why he's wildly unpopular because the American people value authenticity. And this is, I think, actually ties into the trans rights issue, Erin, because what I'm seeking and what all trans people are seeking is the right to live their authentic lives -- to be their authentic selves. And that makes you happier, and it makes you less angry. And I think, you know, it might be easier for JD Vance to order donuts without looking weird if he could be his authentic self. And he might have a thing or two to learn from trans people, is all I'm saying.
(...)
CNN's Erin Burnett OutFront
July 29, 2024
7:01 p.m. Eastern
ERIN BURNETT: "OutFront" tonight, will the real JD Vance please stand up? Tonight, an exclusive interview with JD Vance's former classmate and close friend, Sofia Nelson, someone Vance refers to lovingly as "Sofs" in some of the more than 80 emails they wrote each other that Nelson has shared with "OutFront." Now, most of these emails have never been seen before, and they are emails in which Vance writes openly about hating Trump. He goes after Trump supporters as racists, and he even goes so far as to say he hates police. We're going to dive into these emails along with our many questions for Sofia Nelson in just a moment.
(...)
All right, Vance's big debut as Trump's running mate has been off to a rocky start as people are questioning what he really believes and what he really stands for. In one of the emails that Sofia Nelson shares with us from 2014, Vance writes, quote, "I hate the police. Given the number of negative experiences I've had in the past few years, I can't imagine what a black guy goes through." Yet after being selected as Trump's running mate, this is what Vance has to say about police.
JD VANCE, VICE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE (from last Saturday): They are our protectors, and we back the blue in this country.
BURNETT: And then there's another email -- this one's from 2016 -- it's never been made public before. JD Vance writes this about Trump: Quote, "I hate him and what he represents."
(....)
So I understand you're a transgender public defender in Detroit -- Vance now is one of the Republican party's staunchest culture warriors. So when you look at what you're seeing now, Sofia, JD Vance running as Trump's Vice President, do you see any of the same person that you knew in law school?
SOFIA NELSON, EX-CLASSMATE OF VICE PRESIDENT JD VANCE: First of all, thanks for having me tonight, Erin. No, I don't see any of the man that I got to know and care about. It's really heartbreaking to see him become so callous and divisive.
