as you know, it's not irrelevant. Those statements are destined to come back to haunt him. Regardless of the Kamala Harris statements that were played out in 2020. Whether his opinions about Trump or not matter, that's certainly up for debate. But it's fresh now that he is nominated for VP
It's not going to haunt him.
They were 8 years ago, and he gave a plausible and rational reason why he changed.
Now, in your circles, it won't go away. Kind of similar to how they say Trump will push for a federal ban on abortion and instill project 2025, even though he's repeatedly said he wouldn't, and that the project was the idea of conservative radicals.