Trump Picks J.D. Vance as Vice Presidential Nominee

Donald Trump on Monday picked Ohio Senator J.D. Vance as his running mate, elevating the ambitious Republican who transitioned from a critic to a staunch ally of the former President's agenda in recent years.

Trump announced his choice in a post on his social media ahead of the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, on the day he was formally nominated as the party’s nominee for President for the third time. “After lengthy deliberation and thought, and considering the tremendous talents of many others, I have decided that the person best suited to assume the position of Vice President of the United States is Senator J.D. Vance of the Great State of Ohio,” Trump wrote.

The decision to choose Vance as his running mate marks a dramatic evolution for the Ohio Senator, who has quickly ascended as a pivotal figure in the MAGA movement despite his harsh criticism of Trump around the 2016 election.

Vance, 39, gained national recognition in 2016 with his bestselling book Hillbilly Elegy, which offered a poignant narrative of his upbringing in Appalachia and resonated with some voters in Rust Belt states crucial to Trump's electoral victories. Initially, Vance refused to support Trump, at one point likening him to "America's Hitler." However, his trajectory shifted as he immersed himself in conservative intellectual circles and ascended to the Senate in 2022 with Trump’s help, advocating for policies that emphasize economic protectionism, strong borders, and skepticism of international engagements.

“I’m not just a flip-flopper, I’m a flip-flop-flipper on Trump,” Vance told TIME in 2021. If elected, Vance would be the third-youngest vice president in history. At exactly half Trump’s age, Vance could become the presumptive heir to the leadership of the MAGA movement. 

Since assuming office, Vance has carved out a distinct profile in the Senate by championing issues that blend economic populism with nationalist fervor. His opposition to further U.S. funding for Ukraine has been particularly contentious, sparking intense debate within Republican ranks and drawing rebuke from Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.

On the issue of abortion—a potential vulnerability for Republicans this election—Vance in recent months has attempted to moderate his position after he previously referred to the procedure as “murder” and said during his 2022 race that he would vote for a national 15-week abortion limit. Now Vance has suggested he agrees with Trump’s plan to leave abortion to individual states. "I'd like it to be primarily a state issue. Ohio is going to want to have a different abortion policy from California, from New York, and I think that's reasonable," he said in a 2022 interview with the Cincinnati Enquirer. "I want Ohio to be able to make its own decisions, and I want Ohio's elected legislators to make those decisions. But I think it's fine to sort of set some minimum national standard." He has also signaled that he sides with Trump in his support of access to the mifepristone abortion pill.

Vance has also echoed Trump's unfounded claims about election fraud in 2020. He backed schemes to create alternative slates of electors in key battleground states that Trump lost, and has said that he would have taken a different path on Jan. 6, 2021 than Vice President Mike Pence: “If I had been Vice President, I would have told the states, like Pennsylvania, Georgia and so many others, that we needed to have multiple slates of electors, and I think the U.S. Congress should have fought over it from there,” Vance said in a February interview with ABC News. “That is the legitimate way to deal with an election that a lot of folks, including me, think had a lot of problems in 2020.” Vance has said that he would accept the upcoming election results only “’if we have a free and fair election.”

The Biden campaign immediately labeled Trump’s running mate as “extreme,” blasting Vance for his anti-abortion stance and his 2020 election denialism. “Donald Trump picked J.D. Vance as his running mate because Vance will do what Mike Pence wouldn’t on January 6: bend over backwards to enable Trump and his extreme MAGA agenda, even if it means breaking the law and no matter the harm to the American people,” Biden-Harris 2024 Chair Jen O’Malley Dillon said in a statement.

“As Trump’s running mate, Vance will make it his mission to enact Trump’s Project 2025 agenda at the expense of American families,” the Biden campaign statement continued. “This is someone who supports banning abortion nationwide while criticizing exceptions for rape and incest survivors; railed against the Affordable Care Act, including its protections for millions with preexisting conditions; and has admitted he wouldn’t have certified the free and fair election in 2020.”

Vance, a former Marine Corps veteran who served in Iraq, would be the first-ever Marine combat veteran on a presidential ticket of a major party, and he would also be the first millennial vice president if the Trump-Vance ticket wins in November. A relative political newcomer, Vance has served under two years in the Senate, taking office shortly before the East Palestine, Ohio toxic train derailment. He co-sponsored a railway safety bill with Democrats in the aftermath of that incident. The mayor of East Palestine is set to speak at the Republican convention this week.

“J.D. honorably served our Country in the Marine Corps, graduated from Ohio State University in two years, Summa Cum Laude, and is a Yale Law School Graduate, where he was Editor of The Yale Law Journal, and President of the Yale Law Veterans Association,” Trump wrote on social media announcing Vance.

“J.D.’s book, ‘Hillbilly Elegy,’ became a Major Best Seller and Movie, as it championed the hardworking men and women of our Country. J.D. has had a very successful business career in Technology and Finance, and now, during the Campaign, will be strongly focused on the people he fought so brilliantly for, the American Workers and Farmers in Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, Ohio, Minnesota, and far beyond,” Trump continued in his social media post.

Trump’s pick for Vice President was closely watched in the wake of an attempted assassination against the 45th President at a campaign rally on Saturday in Butler, Pa. Shortly after that incident, Vance blamed the Biden campaign, writing on X: “Today is not just some isolated incident. The central premise of the Biden campaign is that President Donald Trump is an authoritarian fascist who must be stopped at all costs. That rhetoric led directly to President Trump’s attempted assassination.”

Critics argue that Vance's intellectual backing of Trumpism risks legitimizing more extreme elements within the movement. They point to his endorsement of Trump's unfounded claims about election fraud and his alignment with populist rhetoric that critics contend could undermine democratic norms. Supporters tend to view Vance as a refreshing voice within the GOP, capable of bridging the divide between Trump's base and traditional Republican circles. 

Trump’s short-list for vice president had also included North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, both candidates who would have balanced his populist appeal with traditional Republican values.

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