Former president and Republican candidate Donald J. Trump has chosen Senator J.D. Vance of Ohio to be his vice president, betting that the young senator will bring new energy to the Republican ticket and ensure that the movement Trump started nearly a decade ago can survive after him.
Vance, 39, is a political newcomer who joined the Senate last year and has spent the past year methodically rising within conservative circles. Once a critic of Trump, he gained the former president’s support in his Senate run in 2022 by fully embracing the politics and lies surrounding a stolen Republican election.
Vance, a Silicon Valley venture capitalist best known for writing the memoir “Hillbilly Elegy,” quickly emerged as one of the former president’s leading defenders in Congress and on television.
Trump announced his choice in a post on his social media platform Truth Social on Monday (15), during the first day of the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee. He stated that Vance was “the most suitable person” to be his potential vice president. He highlighted Vance’s time in the Marine Corps, expressing belief that Vance was a champion for workers, especially farmers.
Trump’s choice comes just days after he survived an assassination attempt at a rally in Pennsylvania.
Vance directly attributed the shooting to the rhetoric of President Biden and his campaign, even as Trump called for unity.
“The central premise of Biden’s campaign is that President Donald Trump is an authoritarian fascist who must be stopped at all costs. This rhetoric directly led to the assassination attempt on President Trump,” Vance wrote on X.
Vance is the first millennial nominated for a major party ticket. He comes with the mission of alleviating voters’ concerns about the ages of Trump and Democratic candidate President Biden.
Trump’s choice also positions Vance, intentionally or not, as the Republican most likely to carry Trump’s ideological legacy beyond a potential second term in the White House.
Will the choice convince?
In addition to having been a critic of Trump (Vance has argued that Trump was guiding “the white working class to a very dark place,” particularly due to his offensive remarks about immigration and his efforts to blame immigrants for economic problems), Vance’s professional experience also contradicts his current rhetoric.
Vance has built his career speaking on behalf of the working class against the elites, but by aligning so directly with Trump, it is unclear whether he will be able to bring to the table voters who are still not on board.
Source: The New York Times