JD Vance has called Donald Trump an ‘idiot’, ‘reprehensible’ and even compared him to Hitler. That was in 2016. He’s now Donald Trump’s choice for Vice President in the 2024 race to the White House.
He was officially announced as Trump’s running mate at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee.
Taking to his social media account on Truth Social, Trump wrote, “…I have decided that the person best suited to assume the position of Vice President of the United States is Senator JD Vance of the Great State of Ohio. JD 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… As Vice President, JD will continue to fight for our Constitution, stand with our Troops, and will do everything he can to help me MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN.”
TRUMP PICKS OHIO SENATOR AS RUNNING MATE
The Senator from Ohio is comfortable wearing many hats.
He wrote the bestseller ‘Hillbilly Elegy’, based on his own story – born into a poor home with an addict mother and a father who abandoned him when he was only a toddler. Vance was raised by his grandparents.
The book was adapted into a movie by Ron Howard in 2020. Vance went on to study law and became a venture capitalist before he entered politics in 2022 with the Ohio state primary.
FROM NEVER-TRUMPER TO STAUNCH DEFENDER
By then, he had changed his views on Trump who also backed his candidature. It was Trump’s support that helped him top a highly-contested primary.
The Senator from Ohio is a relative newcomer to politics but his transformation from a self-professed never-Trumper to his fierce supporter also sees him agree with Trump’s views on abortion.
He’s not in favour of the US funding foreign wars either.
VANCE DOWNPLAYED TRUMP’S ROLE IN ATTACK ON CAPITOL
He also played down Trump’s role in the events of January 6 in 2021 when a mob attacked the Capitol.
Earlier this year in June, he said, “They asked me, they said, well, you know, wasn’t January sixth a constitutional crisis?’ And I shook my head and I said, no, no, no. January the sixth, Donald Trump trying to challenge an election through constitutional means -that is the opposite of a constitutional crisis. A constitutional crisis is when generals refuse to obey the orders of the commander-in-chief. Let’s go after those generals who refuse to obey lawful orders, not against Donald Trump and his supporters. That’s law and order. That’s common sense.”
VANCE IS A CLONE OF TRUMP: BIDEN
So what does JD Vance bring to the ticket as they say?
At 39-years-old, he’s much younger than Trump and could help bring in more young voters.
Ohio is pretty much considered a red state, so there’s no additional advantage with him as running mate, but his working class credentials – his rise from a difficult childhood to a venture capitalist tick many a right box for the Republicans.
Or as President Joe Biden commented when he was asked on Trump’s choice of running mate, “He’s a clone of Trump on the issues. So I don’t see any difference.”
VANCE MARRIED TO WOMAN OF INDIAN-ORIGIN
Vance is married to Usha Chilukuri Vance of Indian-origin who he met at Yale. Usha is the daughter of immigrants and a litigator at a national law firm.
While some within the Republican Party have wondered if JD Vance’s 180-degree turn to support Donald Trump is more opportunism than ideology.
He is certainly an unusual member of Trump’s inner circle. But some close to Trump say the former President has forgiven Vance for what he said about him in the past.
If Trump wins, Vance would be the youngest vice president since Richard Nixon, who served two terms under Dwight Eisenhower, starting in 1953.
