Watching JD Vance’s mother talk about her relationship with her son, addicted
JD Vance’s mother, Beverly Vance Ikins, spoke about her struggle with substance abuse and her relationship with her son on September 8, 2025.
- Beverly Aikins, the mother of Vice President JD Vance, shares the story of addiction and recovery.
- Ikins’ struggle with drug use was first detailed in his son’s memoir, “Hilbilly Elegy.”
- She currently works as a nurse at a drug addiction treatment center and has spoken publicly about her journey.
WASHINGTON COURT HOUSE, Ohio — Her son, Vice President J.D. Vance, battled substance use in the national spotlight.
Now, Beverly Eikins tells her story in her own words.
For months after Vance became vice president, Ikins spoke to several groups across the country about her substance use and recovery journey – years after Vance’s memoir, “Hilbilly Elegy,” later influenced the film.
On Monday evening, September 8th, Ikins spoke at a church in Fayette County, Ohio for a free event called “The Tale of Addiction, Hope, Recovery and Redemption.”
“I want people to know that this disease is there, so I call it ‘recovery loudly’,” she told Enquirer. “I feel that’s my mission right now. I’m on the map by him (Vance) and I’m using it.”
Ikins works as a nurse at Seacrest Recovery Center, a drug addiction treatment center in the suburbs of Cincinnati. She still lives in Middletown, Vance’s hometown, in a condominium her son bought for her.
Her event in Ohio on September 8th was hosted by a group of Republican women, but some attendees separated Ikins’ message about drinking from her son’s politics.
“She brought me to tears,” said Mercedes Williams, a Fayette County resident. “I grew up the same way. I’m recovering. She really touched me.”
Williams, 30, said she wasn’t political, but when Ikins heard she turned to Vance.
Samantha Rees, 26, who works at the county substance use recovery facility that Ikins spoke to, does not support the vice president. She brought some of her patients and was able to hear Ikins’ message.
“It helps them regardless of the politicians part,” Reese said.
After “Hillbilly Elegy,” Ikins shares her story
Vance’s 2016 memoir, Hillbilly Elegy, surged in popularity after being announced as a running companion for Donald Trump, selling more than 1.6 million copies. In the book, Vance said his Appalachian grandparents, especially his grandmother “Mummer”, provided him with stability, and his mother dealing with substance use and the confusion of multiple marriages.
At church, Ikins remembered his father as a “severe alcoholic” who abused his mother.
“I have memories of his horrible childhood of alcoholism, so I vowed not to be like him,” she said. “And I’m ten times worse.”
Ikins became a nurse when Vance and his sister were young and had a passion for it. However, after taking some due to a headache, she became obsessed with Vicodin and lost her job and nursing license to steal drugs from the hospital where she worked. After she was fired, Ikins began using heroin.
“At the end of my addiction, I lived from the car,” she said. “My kids didn’t talk to me. Both of my parents died. And I was very angry.”
Ikins began attending sobriety conferences in Middletown and heard about the calm living community in Covington, Kentucky. She moved in by getting the $385 needed for a spot from her sister and a local pastor. She said she saved her life.
Her daughter, Lindsay Lewis, was reunited with her after living in a calm facility for over a year. Meanwhile, Vance was far apart.
“My daughter was a little more tolerant than my son,” Ikins said.
Vance ultimately surprised Ikins at one of her drinking meetings. After the meeting, he told her about “Hilbilly Elegy.”
“He said, ‘Mom, I wrote a book. You’re not very positive in the book,” recalls Ikins. “This book is scheduled to be released next week, but if you want it to be cancelled, I will.”
Ikins asked his son: “Does it help you heal? Does it help you forgive me?”
“He said, ‘I think so,'” Ikins said. She told him to reveal it.
“The book has a line: ‘My mother, a woman I’ve never met,'” recalls Ikins. “That was heartbreaking.”
Their relationship was still tense after the book came out. Ikins said she was “crushed.” Vance invited her to a New York party and didn’t celebrate the New York Times bestseller list to celebrate “Hilbilly Elegy.”
Then came Netflix movies. Ikins received a call from director Ron Howard, who offers $12,000 to be portrayed by Amy Adams in the film. She told him she hung up.
“I said, ‘You want to tell me I’m a drug addicted prostitute for $12,000?!'” she said.
Ikins got a lawyer and negotiated a higher wage for the film. With the money, she was able to pay to get her nursing license back. This is a process that requires self-funded schooling and drug testing.
Ikins says that Vance’s firstborn son brought them closer
When Vance invited his mother to Columbus in 2017, it was a turning point. His wife Usha gave birth to her first child, Ewan.
“When he saw the little boy, I think he realized that he loved the boy unconditionally and would do anything for him. “I’m a drug addict, and drug addict is sick. And I’ve made a lot of mistakes, but I’ll do anything for him. I loved him unconditionally.”
“From that moment on, our relationship changed,” she said. “I started taking calls, I started receiving texts, and I know it’s the little boy’s fault.”
Vance’s mother on his politics: “JD and I disagree with everything.”
Ikins celebrated his 10th year of drinking at the White House in January. However, her new role in the political spotlight of her family, as well as public discourse and criticism about her son, sometimes tested the sense of peace she fought to raise.
Approximately a week after Vance was announced as Trump’s running mate, Ikins posted on Facebook that he would leave social media until after the election due to “vitreal and hatred” towards his son.
Recently she blocked a friend on Facebook who posted Meme Mocking Vance.
“That’s how I handle it,” she told Enquirer. “People will be like that, and I get it. It’s okay. We live in a great country where people are allowed to have different opinions. But I don’t see him as a politician. I see him as my child.”
Ikins is still navigating what it means to be a vice president’s mother, especially as he tries to spread the message of drinking that is not tied to his son’s politics. Last week she created a new public Facebook page dedicated to her speaking engagement. One of her upcoming events will include gatherings at a church in Tennessee. There, a $20 ticket will benefit your local food pantry.
“JD and I don’t agree with everything,” she said of her son’s politics. “We don’t. I have a few different opinions from him. We agree to oppose it. I’m not political. I just want to spread the word of recovery.”
