US Vice President J D Vance's cousin Nate blasts him for humiliating Zelenskyy: 'I thought I was going to choke'

US Vice President J D Vance has found a critic in his cousin Nate Vance, who blasted the former for his treatment of Ukrainian President Voldomyr Zelenskyy. The 47-year-old former Marine has fought for Ukraine in some of its bloodiest battles in Kupyansk, Bakhmut, Avdiivka, and Pokrovsk.  

Nate Vance, in an interview with Le Figaro, said he was disappointed in his cousin, "I was disappointed. When JD justified his distrust of Zelenskyy citing 'reports' he had seen, I thought I was going to choke. His own cousin was on the front lines. I could tell him the truth, without falsehood, without personal interest. He never tried to find out more," Nate said.

Nate said he believed his cousin had an integrity. "JD is a good guy, intelligent," he explains. "When he criticised aid to Ukraine, I told myself that it was because he had to please a certain electorate, that it was the game of politics. But what they did to Zelensky was an ambush of absolute bad faith," Nate said. 

"Being your family doesn't mean I'm going to accept you killing my comrades," Nate added.

Both Nate and JD share the same grandparents. JD's mother Beverly is the sister of Nate's father James. The families were once very close and even vacationed together.

He added that the US was now "Vladimir Putin's useful idiot", adding that US President Donald Trump and his cousin believed they could placate Vladimir Putin. "They are wrong. The Russians are not about to forget our support for Ukraine," Nate added.

A former U.S. Marine, Nate volunteered for Ukraine's Da Vinci Wolves First Motorized Battalion after he was inspired to help Ukraine. "I could see that history was being written in front of me, and I wanted to be part of it," he said.

He left Ukraine just before Trump's inauguration to avoid the risk of being captured and returned to the US.