Ohio Senator J.D. Vance speaks at the Turning Point USA ''People's Convention,'' in Detroit, Michigan, June 15, 2024. Dominic Gwinn/ZUMA
Former President Donald Trump on Monday unveiled Sen. J.D. Vance as his vice presidential running mate.
“After lengthy deliberation and thought, and considering the tremendous talents of many others,” Trump posted on Truth Social. “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.”
The announcement touted Vance’s Ivy League education as well as his memoir, Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis, which Trump said “became a Major Best Seller” and “championed the hardworking men and women of our Country.”
Long considered a front-runner for the role, Vance’s selection cements a presidential ticket steeped in election lies. In the months leading up to Monday’s announcement, the junior senator from Ohio appeared to ramp up the divisive, MAGA-aligned rhetoric in an apparent effort to curry Trump’s favor.
“If I had been vice president,” Vance said in a February interview that seemingly criticized Mike Pence for his refusal to overturn the election, “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 US Congress should have fought over it from there.”
Already one of the most consequential decisions of any presidential campaign, Trump’s choice for VP took on even further significance after an assassination attempt in Pennsylvania.
Vance on Saturday was one of several Republican lawmakers to blame President Biden for the shooting, The remarks prompted condemnation from Democrats, including Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) who went on X to remind Vance that he once called Trump the “American Hitler.”
Before entering politics as one of Trump’s most vocal supporters, Vance was mostly known—and admired both among liberals and on the right—as the author of Hillbilly Elegy and prominent “never-Trumper.” But the last few years saw the Yale Law graduate quickly adopting a deeply MAGA persona that eventually won him a Senate seat. It could be argued that his politics were less a transformation than a personal realization. Whatever prompted the change, as of Monday, the altered Vance appears to have successfully turned himself into a vice presidential candidate.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
