The boy who appeared on show in 1988 was Duffey Strode, the son of a preacher, not Vance.
After JD Vance became the U.S. Republican vice presidential candidate ahead of the 2024 presidential election, he became the subject of a range of viral claims, including a video claiming to show he appeared on "The Oprah Winfrey Show" as a young boy, where he screamed and preached religious verses.
The video in question showed host Winfrey watching as a young boy stands and screams, "Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my words, in this adulterous and sinful generation [inaudible]." Winfrey then asks the boy to explain what he said and if he understood what he said. The boy stated, "It means just what it says." A woman in the audience then asks him to describe his preaching to her as though she does not understand the Bible. The boy struggles with his response, attempting to refer to the Bible.
A caption above the video, which was posted on July 28, 2024, said, "JD Vance footage when he was a teenager." We received the same video from readers who asked if it was really Vance in the footage.
Vance is not the boy in the above video. The screaming boy is Duffy Strode, the son of Christian fundamentalists from North Carolina. The video aired in 1988, when Strode was around 10 years old, and showed Winfrey interviewing the Strode family who had gained notoriety for making their children preach. As such, we rate the above claim as "False."
The full video is available on Oprah.com, with the caption explaining the Strode family:
In the late '80s, the Strode family of Marion, North Carolina, became infamous for striking fear in the heart of their town. Their son Duffey, who started preaching at age 5, could be found screaming Bible verses at the top of his lungs on school grounds. His parents eventually decided to homeschool their children after Duffey was suspended from school multiple times and a petition suggesting the family should leave town received nearly 500 signatures, according to The Washington Post.
When Duffey preached, he always quoted from the scripture. Passages like, "Marriage is holy in all and the bed undefiled. But the whoremonger and the fornicator, God will judge!" may not seem like typical reading material for a pre-teen. Some people wondered if Duffey could possibly comprehend the words he was screaming.
In this Oprah Show clip from 1988, Duffey passionately delivers a Bible verse, and the audience, seemingly frightened and bewildered by what they just heard, ask Duffey if he understands the deeper meaning. His response is stunning.
According to The Washington Post report on the family, Strode's father, David Strode, was an evangelist preacher who believed racial integration was sinful and the Catholic Church was "the whore of Revelation."
In a 1988 New York Times story, Strode's mother said it was her children's decision to preach. In one instance of suspension, Strode's father said his son had refused to be hit with a paddle as punishment for a scuffle involving other students. Strode's former school's assistant principal said the boy had called faculty members ''fornicators'' and ''adulterers."
The Washington Post story also described the children's behavior:
After a while, the puppy trots off and Duffey flips the frisbee to a reporter. He is fascinated by the way the disk can curve or waffle as its cuts through the air. "I like the plastic ones on cement cause I can skip them," he says.
As he's speaking, a small head appears at the front door. It is Matthew, his sometime companion in preaching and his only friend. A slight, wiry boy, Matthew is as high-strung as Duffey is low-keyed. He is a typical younger brother, constantly acting up to get attention. One morning as he and Duffey were screeching Scripture at the schoolyard, Matthew turned to his brother and hollered, "Duffey, I already preached that verse."
In 1988, Duffy Strode demonstrated his preaching not just for Winfrey but for talk show hosts Larry King and Sally Jessy Raphael.
Ten years later, according to a report in local paper, The Lima News, the family had given up preaching but still held onto their beliefs. Strode had periods of estrangement from his family and eventually married. Per the 1998 news report, he was expecting a child with his wife.