Donald Trump has announced that 39-year-old Ohio Senator JD Vance as his Vice President pick for the 2024 election.
Vance was previously a Trump critic, but has become a strong supporter of the former President over the past few years.
He was announced as Trump’s running mate during the Republican National Convention, where Trump was officially confirmed as the party’s candidate for the election.
JD Vance
Vance grew up in Middletown, Ohio, a predominantly industrial area known for its steel mills and manufacturing plants.
He served in the U.S. Marine Corps for four years and later studied law at Yale, where he met his future wife Usha Chilukuri, a lawyer and daughter of Indian migrants.
Vance is the author of the memoir ‘Hillbilly Elegy’, a reflection on his upbringing, where he wrote: “There is no group of Americans more pessimistic than working-class whites.”
The book became a bestseller. Its release coincided with Trump’s campaign against Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential election.
It was later used to explain a trend of dissatisfaction among the white working and middle-class communities who largely voted for Trump in 2016.
During an interview about the book, Vance said he was a “never Trump guy” and that he “never liked him”.
In a now-deleted tweet, he wrote: “Trump makes people I care about afraid. Immigrants, Muslims, etc. Because of this I find him reprehensible.”
2022 Senate
In 2022, Vance made his first tilt for politics and ran for the Senate representing the state of Ohio.
By this time, he had become a loyal Trump supporter, and was considered a “MAGA [Make America Great Again] Republican,” Trump’s campaign slogan.
During a rally, he told the crowd: “I wasn’t always nice [about Trump], but the simple fact is, he’s the best president of my lifetime, and he revealed the corruption in this country like nobody else.”
Trump endorsed Vance in the Senate race, which he won.
Views
Vance’s views have become closely aligned with Trump’s. He has repeated false claims about the legitimacy of the 2020 election.
He also said he was “sceptical” that former Vice President Mike Pence was in danger of being killed during the 6 January riots, where some protesters called to “hang Mike Pence”.
Vance voiced support for the overturning of Roe v. Wade, which protected abortion access across the U.S. When asked whether there should be exemptions for criminal instances of rape or incest, Vance said: “Two wrongs don’t make a right.”
He has also voted against a $US60 billion aid package for Ukraine and said he remains “opposed to virtually any proposal for the U.S. to continue funding this war”.
Recent comments
After the attempted assassination on Trump over the weekend, Vance partly blamed President Joe Biden.
In a post on X, he said: “The central premise of the Biden campaign is that President Donald Trump is an authoritarian fascist who must be stopped at all costs.
“That rhetoric led directly to President Trump’s attempted assassination.”
Democrats
President Joe Biden released a statement in response to Trump’s VP pick, claiming Vance would raise taxes for middle-class families despite talking “a big game about working people”.
Vice President Kamala Harris pointed to Vance’s history of anti-abortion comments and blocking a vote on protections for IVF.
The Biden campaign has confirmed Harris is “prepared” to face Vance in a Vice Presidential debate.
