In the 1940s. Mentioning this, but the fact he would publicly denounce the Klan by the end of the decade, and spend the rest of his life profusely apologizing for having been so stupid as a younger person -- is just smear, basically.
Byrd later called joining the KKK "the greatest mistake I ever made". In his last autobiography, Byrd explained that he was a KKK member because he "was sorely afflicted with tunnel vision — a jejune and immature outlook—seeing only what I wanted to see because I thought the Klan could provide an outlet for my talents and ambitions".[37] Byrd also said in 2005, "I know now I was wrong. Intolerance had no place in America. I apologized a thousand times … and I don't mind apologizing over and over again. I can't erase what happened".
Not very, because Vance isn't very old. When was he in the KKK? It would be very unusual to be in the KKK in, say, 1995. Someone would have to be extremely committed to white supremacist ideology to be in such a position, I would think.
https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/164821-biden-rem...
> “A mentor and a dear friend”
Make what you will of it. Just saying that not that long of a time has passed. We’re talking about the sitting US president.