DDonald Trump on Monday chose Ohio Senator JD Vance as his running mate, elevating the ambitious Republican who has gone from critic to staunch ally of the former president’s agenda in recent years.
Trump announced his choice in a post on his social media before the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, on the day he was formally nominated as the party’s candidate for President for the third time. “After long deliberation and reflection, and considering the tremendous talents of many others, I have decided that the best suited person to assume the office of Vice President of the United States is Senator JD Vance of the Great State of Ohio,” Trump wrote.
The decision to choose Vance as his running mate marks a dramatic development for the Ohio senator, who quickly rose as a central figure in the MAGA movement despite his harsh criticism of Trump around the 2016 election.
Vance, 39, gained national recognition in 2016 with her best-selling book Hillbilly elegy, which offered a moving narrative of his Appalachian upbringing and resonated with some voters in Rust Belt states crucial to Trump’s electoral victories. Initially, Vance refused to support Trump, at one point comparing him to “America’s Hitler.” However, his trajectory changed as he immersed himself in conservative intellectual circles and ascended to the Senate in 2022. with the help of Trump, advocating policies that emphasize economic protectionism, strong borders and skepticism towards international commitments.
“I’m not just a flip-flop, I’m a flip-flop-flipper toward 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 leadership of the MAGA movement.
Since taking office, Vance has carved out a distinct profile in the Senate by championing issues that mix economic populism with nationalist fervor. His opposition to more U.S. funding for Ukraine has been particularly controversial, sparking intense debate within Republican ranks and drawing a rebuke from Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.
On the issue of abortion — a potential vulnerability for Republicans in this election — Vance in recent months has tried to moderate his stance after previously referring to the procedure as “murder” and saying during his 2022 run that he would vote in a 15-year national election. years. weekly abortion limit. Now Vance has said he agrees with Trump’s plan to leave abortion up to individual states, and has also signaled he stands with Trump in his support for access to the abortion pill mifepristone.
Vance also repeated Trump’s baseless claims of voter fraud in 2020. He supported schemes to create alternative voter rolls in key states that Trump lost, and said he would have taken a different path on January 6, 2021 than Vice President Mike Pence : “If I were vice president, I would have told the states, like Pennsylvania, Georgia and so many others, that we needed to have multiple slates of voters, and I think the U.S. Congress should have fought for that from there,” Vance said in a February interview with ABC News. “This is the legitimate way to handle an election that many people, including myself, feel had a lot of problems in 2020.” Vance has he said that he would only accept the results of the next elections “if we have free and fair elections”.
Biden’s campaign immediately labeled Trump’s running mate as “extreme,” criticizing Vance for his anti-abortion stance and 2020 election denialism. “Donald Trump chose JD Vance as his running mate because Vance will do what Mike Pence would not do on January 6th: bend over backwards to enable Trump and his extremist MAGA agenda, even if it means breaking the law and no matter the harm to the American People,” said Biden-Harris 2024 President Jen O’Malley Dillon, in a statement.
“As Trump’s running mate, Vance will be tasked with enacting Trump’s Project 2025 agenda at the expense of American families,” the Biden campaign statement continued. “This is someone who supports a nationwide abortion ban while criticizing exceptions for survivors of rape and incest; criticized the Affordable Care Act, including its protections for millions of people with pre-existing conditions; and admitted that he would not have certified free and fair elections in 2020.”
Vance, a former Marine Corps veteran who served in Iraq, would be the first Marine combat veteran on a major party presidential ticket, and would also be the first millennial vice president if the Trump-Vance ticket wins. in November. A relative newcomer to politics, Vance served less than two years in the Senate, taking office shortly before the toxic train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio. He co-sponsored a rail safety bill with Democrats after that incident. The mayor of East Palestine is scheduled to speak at the Republican convention this week.
“JD honorably served our country in the Marine Corps, graduated from Ohio State University in two years, Summa Cum Laude, and graduated from Yale Law School, where he was editor of The Yale Law Journal and president of the Yale Law Veterans Association ,” Trump wrote on social media announcing Vance.
“JD’s book, ‘Elegia Caipira’, became a huge bestseller and film, as he defended the working men and women of our country. JD has had a very successful business career in Technology and Finance, and now, during the Campaign, he will be heavily 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 following an assassination attempt on the 45th president at a campaign rally Saturday in Butler, Pennsylvania. Shortly after this 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. This rhetoric led directly to the attempted assassination of President Trump.”
Critics argue that Vance’s intellectual support for Trumpism risks legitimizing more extreme elements within the movement. They point to his endorsement of Trump’s baseless claims about voter fraud and his alignment with populist rhetoric that critics say could undermine democratic norms. Supporters tend to see Vance as a refreshing voice within the Republican Party, capable of bridging the divide between Trump’s base and traditional Republican circles.
Trump’s list for vice president also included North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum and Florida Senator Marco Rubio, both candidates who would have balanced their populist appeal with traditional Republican values.
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This story originally appeared on Time.com read the full story
