Former U.S. Representative David M. McIntosh (R-IN), co-founder of the Federalist Society and president of the fiscally conservative Club for Growth, publicly criticized Vice President JD Vance for his recent comments regarding the economy.
On The Michael Knowles Show, Vance said that President Trump “has already completely reoriented the conversation towards what you might call an American developmentalist approach, like American economic policy on the right is now much more Alexander Hamilton than it is Milton Friedman. Yeah, I think that’s obviously a good thing.”
Vance added: “I do think fundamentally that Hamiltonian tradition is gonna be what we see on the American right and will dominate American conservative economics in the future.”
With all due respect, Mr Vice President you are dead wrong about both Milton Friedman and Alexander Hamilton. Both of them promoted free markets as the way to make American Great. pic.twitter.com/z8vMicwwBT
— David M. McIntosh (@DavidMMcintosh) July 5, 2026
[NOTE: America’s first Treasury Secretary, Hamilton, advocated for a strong central government, tariffs, and nationalized banking; 20th century economist Friedman (a friend and advisor to President Ronald Reagan) advocated free-market capitalism, deregulation, and minimal government intervention. Thomas Jefferson was among those who opposed Hamilton’s national bank, asserting it unconstitutionally gave too much power to the wealthy.]
McIntosh, who served during the Reagan administration as Special Assistant to the Attorney General and as Special Assistant to the President for Domestic Affairs, replied: “With all due respect, Mr Vice President you are dead wrong about both Milton Friedman and Alexander Hamilton. Both of them promoted free markets as the way to make American Great.”
Trump supporter and Fox News star Mark Levin also weighed in on the comparison of Hamilton and Friedman. An admirer of Friedman, Levin, who also worked for the Reagan administration, wrote: “The so-called nationalists-populists are more socialist-lite than capitalist and republican.”
Former chief economist during the first Trump administration, Vance Ginn, agreed with Levin and replied, “Friedman > Hamilton.”
Friedman > Hamilton https://t.co/d3Q1DjZUYp
— Vance Ginn (@VanceGinn) July 3, 2026
[NOTE: The pro-Trump Club for Growth has a history of criticizing Vance. When Trump endorsed Vance for the 2022 Senate election in Ohio, Club for Growth continued its negative ad campaign against Vance over statements he made about Trump in 2016. (Vance wrote The Atlantic op-ed, ‘Opioid for the Masses,’ warning about what he characterized as the dangerous allure of Trump as he campaigned in 2016.)]