J.D. Vance leaves AppHarvest board following controversial tweets

AppHarvest announced that J.D. Vance is no longer a board member of the Eastern Kentucky-based company.

Vance is best known for his best-selling memoir "Hillbilly Elegy," which was turned into a Netflix movie starring actors Amy Adams and Glenn Close.

Vance and his family moved to Cincinnati's East Walnut Hills neighborhood in 2018. 

The announcement of Vance's departure comes after he received pushback for controversial statements he made on Twitter recently. 

On Wednesday, AppHarvest announced two new hires to replace Vance and  Equilibrium CEO and Chairman Dave Chen who is also exiting. 

“We thank Dave and J.D. for being early investors who threw their full support into establishing AppHarvest as a mission-focused company doing good for people and planet,” Jonathan Webb, CEO, said in a statement.

On Friday, Vance tweeted that Tucker Carlson is the only powerful figure who consistently challenges elite dogma on both cultural and economic questions.

"That is why they try to destroy him. Don’t fall for it this time, or any other," read the tweet. 

On Monday, in response to a tweet about some corporations protesting voting restrictions, Vance wrote “raise their taxes and do whatever else is necessary to fight these goons." 

Vance is a possible Ohio Senate contender. Recently, a super PAC supporting Vance received a $10 million donation from PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel. 

Vance considered a bid for U.S. Senate in 2018 after Mandel dropped out but ultimately decided against challenging Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown.