Former US President Donald Trump announced on Monday that he has chosen Republican Senator J.D. Vance of Ohio as his running mate for the next US presidential election. The announcement was made on Trump’s Truth Social media platform at the start of the four-day Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, where the presidential nomination will take place.
“After lengthy deliberation and consideration, and after taking into account the incredible talents of many people, I have determined that the person best qualified to serve as Vice President of the United States is Senator J.D. Vance of Ohio,” Trump said in a statement on Truth Social.
James David Vance, author of the best-selling autobiography “Hillbilly Elegy,” is very popular among Trump supporters, and his selection could increase the likelihood that Trump supporters will vote on November 5. However, Vance, a staunch conservative from a Republican-leaning state, may not attract many new voters to the Trump camp and may alienate some moderates. According to a Reuters report, some Trump supporters have been arguing for a woman or a person of color to be selected as a vice presidential candidate to expand the coalition, which is primarily made up of white men.
Vance, 39, would bring a younger perspective to a race pitting Trump, 78, against President Joe Biden, 81. The choice provides a counterbalance to a Democratic field that includes Vice President Kamala Harris, 59. In choosing Vance, Trump ruled out other candidates such as Sens. Marco Rubio and Tim Scott and North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum.
Vance’s rise to fame is an anomaly in American politics: After a difficult, impoverished upbringing in southern Ohio, he served in the Marines, won a scholarship to Yale Law School and then worked as a venture capitalist in San Francisco.
His 2016 book “Hillbilly Elegy” explored the socio-economic challenges facing his hometown and the cycle of poverty that has trapped Americans in the Appalachian Mountains, where his mother and her family hail from. As reported by Reuters, the book was intended to criticize what Vance sees as a self-destructive culture in rural America and explain Trump’s popularity among poor white Americans.
Despite being a harsh critic of President Trump before and after the 2016 election, Vance has morphed into one of President Trump’s most consistent defenders as he prepares to run for Senate in Ohio in 2022. He has downplayed the January 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol and repeated President Trump’s criticism of the Department of Justice’s prosecution of the January 6 rioters.
Vance has also been a vocal opponent of continuing aid to Ukraine in the Senate, a view that differs from that of many Republicans.
Mr. Vance, a former venture capitalist, has served as a bridge between Mr. Trump’s inner circle and wealthy Silicon Valley donors, many of whom have contributed to Mr. Trump’s campaigns this election. But some of Mr. Trump’s closest allies have privately questioned the wisdom of removing Mr. Vance from the Senate, given the close race between Democrats and Republicans for control of the Senate.
“After lengthy deliberation and consideration, and after taking into account the incredible talents of many people, I have determined that the person best qualified to serve as Vice President of the United States is Senator J.D. Vance of Ohio,” Trump said in a statement on Truth Social.
James David Vance, author of the best-selling autobiography “Hillbilly Elegy,” is very popular among Trump supporters, and his selection could increase the likelihood that Trump supporters will vote on November 5. However, Vance, a staunch conservative from a Republican-leaning state, may not attract many new voters to the Trump camp and may alienate some moderates. According to a Reuters report, some Trump supporters have been arguing for a woman or a person of color to be selected as a vice presidential candidate to expand the coalition, which is primarily made up of white men.
Vance, 39, would bring a younger perspective to a race pitting Trump, 78, against President Joe Biden, 81. The choice provides a counterbalance to a Democratic field that includes Vice President Kamala Harris, 59. In choosing Vance, Trump ruled out other candidates such as Sens. Marco Rubio and Tim Scott and North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum.
Vance’s rise to fame is an anomaly in American politics: After a difficult, impoverished upbringing in southern Ohio, he served in the Marines, won a scholarship to Yale Law School and then worked as a venture capitalist in San Francisco.
His 2016 book “Hillbilly Elegy” explored the socio-economic challenges facing his hometown and the cycle of poverty that has trapped Americans in the Appalachian Mountains, where his mother and her family hail from. As reported by Reuters, the book was intended to criticize what Vance sees as a self-destructive culture in rural America and explain Trump’s popularity among poor white Americans.
Despite being a harsh critic of President Trump before and after the 2016 election, Vance has morphed into one of President Trump’s most consistent defenders as he prepares to run for Senate in Ohio in 2022. He has downplayed the January 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol and repeated President Trump’s criticism of the Department of Justice’s prosecution of the January 6 rioters.
Vance has also been a vocal opponent of continuing aid to Ukraine in the Senate, a view that differs from that of many Republicans.
Mr. Vance, a former venture capitalist, has served as a bridge between Mr. Trump’s inner circle and wealthy Silicon Valley donors, many of whom have contributed to Mr. Trump’s campaigns this election. But some of Mr. Trump’s closest allies have privately questioned the wisdom of removing Mr. Vance from the Senate, given the close race between Democrats and Republicans for control of the Senate.
