James David Vance grew up poor but rose to become a senator from Ohio.
Along the way he became a U.S. sailor, turned a book into a Netflix movie, and now can land one of the top jobs in American politics, despite not having been a senator for two years.
Vance also went from being one of Trump’s fiercest critics to becoming one of his most ardent supporters, making him an unusual addition to Trump’s inner circle.
At 39 years old, he will also offer Republicans a millennial face to complement the older man at the top of the list.
Follow live: Donald Trump named Republican presidential candidate
The Republicans are the presidential candidate and the vice presidential candidate. Photo: Reuters
From humble beginnings to a Netflix movie
Vance was born into an impoverished home in southern Ohio.
After serving in the Marine Corps, he went to Yale Law School and even became a venture capitalist in San Francisco.
He initially rose to fame with his book Hillbilly Elegy, which explored the socioeconomic problems facing his hometown, while attempting to explain Trump’s popularity to readers.
The book was called “one of the six best books to help understand Trump’s victory” by The New York Times, and was later made into a Netflix movie starring Amy Adams and Glenn Close.
JD Vance. Photo: Reuters
Once a ‘Never Trumper’…
Vance once described himself as a “never Trumper” and privately even compared the former president to Hitler.
He was harshly critical of Trump in 2016 and during the early stages of his 2017-2021 term.
Click to subscribe to Sky News Daily wherever you get your podcasts
“I go back and forth between thinking Trump is a cynical idiot like Nixon who wouldn’t be so bad (and might even be useful) or that he’s America’s Hitler,” Vance wrote privately to an associate on Facebook in 2016. .
When his comment about Hitler was first reported in 2022, a spokesperson did not dispute it but said it no longer represented Vance’s views.
Supporters hold Donald Trump signs. Photo: Reuters
From critic to unconditional supporter
However, Vance has since become a reliable Trump supporter.
Before developing a relationship with the former president, he reportedly became close to Trump’s eldest son, Donald Trump Jr.
When Vance ran for the Senate in 2022, his displays of loyalty, which included downplaying the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol, were enough to earn Trump’s coveted endorsement.
Trump’s support helped put him over the top in a competitive primary.
In interviews, Vance has said there was no ‘Eureka’ moment that changed his mind about Trump.
Stay up to date with the latest news from the UK and around the world by following Sky News
Substance over style
Instead, he claimed to have gradually realized that his opposition to Trump was rooted in style rather than substance.
He agreed with Trump’s claims that free trade had hollowed out the American middle class and that political leaders were too interventionist in conflicts abroad.
“I allowed myself to focus so much on the stylistic element of Trump that I completely ignored the way in which he was substantively offering something very different on foreign policy, trade and immigration,” Vance previously told the New York Times.
In the same interview, Vance said he met Trump in 2021 and that the two became closer during his Senate campaign.
While Democrats and even some Republicans have questioned whether Vance is driven more by opportunism than ideology, Trump and many advisers see his transformation as genuine.
His help convincing wealthy donors to open their wallets to Trump hasn’t hurt his standing either, Reuters reports, and outside the campaign trail, some of Trump’s highest-profile allies firmly believe in Vance.
This story originally appeared on News.sky.com read the full story
