MILWAUKEE (AP) — Former President Donald Trump Selected Senator J.D. Vance On Monday, she picked former Vice President Joe Biden of Ohio as her running mate, a one-time critic turned staunch ally and the first millennial to become a major party’s nominee at a time of serious concern about the aging of America’s political leadership.
“After lengthy deliberation and consideration, and taking into account many other incredible talents, I have decided that the person best qualified to serve as Vice President of the United States is Senator J.D. Vance of Ohio,” Trump said in a post on his Truth social network as the Republican National Convention got underway in Milwaukee.
Vance, 39, rose to national prominence with the publication of his autobiography, “Hillbilly Elegy,” in 2016. He was elected to the Senate in 2022 and has been one of the most staunch supporters of the former president’s “Make America Great Again” agenda, particularly on trade, foreign policy and immigration issues.
But he has little track record in domestic politics and joins the Trump campaign at an unusual time. Assassination attempt Trump’s comments at Saturday’s rally sent shock waves through the campaign, drew new attention to the country’s crude political rhetoric and underscored the importance of those just one step away from the presidency.
Vance himself faced criticism after the shooting for a post on X suggesting President Joe Biden was to blame for the violence.
What you need to know about the 2024 election
“The central premise of the Biden campaign is that the president Donald Trump “He is an authoritarian fascist who must be stopped at all costs,” Vance wrote, “and whose comments directly led to the assassination attempt on President Trump.”
Police officials have not yet determined a motive for the shooting.
Why was Vance chosen over the other finalists?
Trump said Vance “will focus on the people he fought so well for – the American workers and farmers in Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, Ohio, Minnesota and further afield.” Several of these Midwestern states are expected to play key roles in the November election.
Trump and Vance spoke about 20 minutes before the Truth Social post, and Trump formally offered Vance the job, according to a person familiar with the call, who, like others, spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the private conversation.
Biden’s reelection campaign released a statement criticizing Vance for saying that if he had been vice president, he would have allowed “multiple slates of electors” to challenge Biden’s victory over Trump four years ago. Trump repeatedly spread falsehoods about election fraud before and after a mob of supporters of the former president stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, in an attempt to stop the certification of his defeat.
“Donald Trump chose J.D. Vance as his running mate because he will do what Mike Pence did not do on January 6th: do everything in his power to support Trump and his extreme MAGA agenda, even if it means breaking the law and whatever harm it may cause to the American people,” Biden campaign chair Jen O’Malley Dillon said in a statement.
The other candidates on Trump’s shortlist, Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida and North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, were informed early Monday afternoon that they were not Trump’s nominee, according to people familiar with the conversations.
Conversations between Rubio and the Trump campaign over the past 10 days have focused on residency concerns and how to account for the fact that the two men live in the same state, according to a person familiar with the private meetings who spoke on condition of anonymity.
The Trump campaign wanted to be 100% sure the issue wouldn’t result in a drawn-out legal battle, and Rubio didn’t want to relocate his family, the people said.
Trump has spent months vetting the candidates, trying to gauge how they performed on television, at fundraisers and on the stage at rallies. Several, including Burgum and Vance, sat in on Trump’s hush-money criminal trial in New York. Others attended last month’s debate, where Biden’s dismal performance upended his campaign and sparked widespread calls for him to step aside in favor of a younger candidate.
The selection is sure to energize Trump’s loyal base, and Vance has become a fixture in conservative media circles and frequently engages in debates with Capitol Hill reporters, helping to position himself as a leader who could succeed Trump in the future, starting with the 2028 presidential election.
But the selection means that two white people will lead the Republican nominee field at a time when Trump is seeking to win over black and Latino voters.
In “Hillbilly Elegy,” Vance detailed life in an Appalachian community that had seceded from the Democratic Party, many of whose residents felt disconnected from the everyday struggles of the time. The book became a bestseller but was criticized for oversimplifying rural life and ignoring the role of racism in contemporary politics.
Vance has previously been a strong critic of Trump.
Vance’s relationship with Trump is symbiotic.
Vance’s fame has grown in tandem with Trump’s unlikely rise from reality TV star to Republican nominee and ultimately president. Early in Trump’s political career, Vance described him as a “total con man,” a “moral bankrupt” and an “American Hitler.”
But like many Republicans who searched for meaning in the Trump era, Vance eventually changed his tune: He said Trump’s performance in office proved him wrong, and he became one of Trump’s staunchest defenders.
“I didn’t think he’d be a good president,” Vance told Fox News Channel recently. “He’s been a great president, and that’s one of the reasons I’m trying so hard to give him a second term.”
Vance’s turnaround paid off when he won Trump’s coveted endorsement in the 2022 race for an open Senate seat and won a crowded Republican primary and a closely fought Democratic general election. He is close to Trump’s son, Donald Jr.
“Look, I’ve seen him on TV,” Donald Trump Jr. told CNN from the convention floor, saying of Vance. “I’ve seen him run his case against the Democrats. Nobody can articulate it better than him. And I think his history, his background, will really help in a lot of areas where we need to from an Electoral College standpoint.”
Vance is now a staunch supporter of Trump, challenging the validity of criminal charges and civil judgments against him and questioning the results of the 2020 election.
He told ABC News in February that if he had been vice president on January 6, 2021, he would have told states that Trump contested Biden’s win “that they needed to have multiple electoral votes, and then Congress would take it from there.”
“Many people, including myself, believe there were many problems with the 2020 election, and this is the legitimate way to address it,” he said.
Many states enacted emergency measures four years ago to allow people to vote safely during the coronavirus pandemic, but judges, election officials from both parties and President Trump’s own attorney general have concluded there was no evidence of widespread voter fraud in the 2020 election.
Vance’s book brought him national fame.
Vance’s book, “Memoirs of a Family and a Culture in Crisis,” A look at Trump’s Midwest appealManufacturing job losses and the opioid crisis had pushed many families like his into poverty, abuse and addiction.
The story of Vance’s difficult childhood in Middletown, Ohio, where he was born, and the hills of eastern Kentucky, where his family lived, also captivated Hollywood: Director Ron Howard produced the 2020 film, starring Amy Adams as Vance’s mother and Glenn Close as Vance’s beloved “Mamaw.”
Encouraged by his grandmother, Mr. Vance enlisted in the Marines, served in the Iraq War, and graduated from Ohio State University and Yale Law School. He then joined an investment firm in Silicon Valley before returning to Ohio to start a nonprofit that aims to develop a treatment for opioid addiction that he says could be rolled out nationwide.
Finally, our Ohio Regeneration The mission failed It was then shut down. During the 2022 campaign, then-Democratic rival U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan charged that the charity was merely a front for Vance’s political ambitions. Ryan pointed to reports that the charity had paid Vance’s political advisers and conducted polls, even as its actual efforts to combat addiction had largely failed. Vance denied the portrayal.
As a senator, Vance has demonstrated a willingness to work across party lines. He and Ohio’s senior senator, Democrat Sherrod Brown, have worked together on many issues important to the state, including: Intel is building a $20 billion chip factory Introduced in Central Ohio Railway Safety Act In response to Fire and derailment in East Palestine, Ohio.
___
Smith reported from Butler, Pennsylvania. Associated Press writers Mary Claire Jalonick, Michelle L. Price and Will Weissert contributed to this report.
___
See AP’s 2024 election coverage below. https://apnews.com/hub/election-2024.
