by Andrew Bernard
“As vice president, J.D. will continue to fight for our constitution, stand with our troops, and will do everything he can to help me make America great again,” the former president wrote.
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| Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio) addresses the conservative Turning Point People's Convention on June 16, 2024 at Huntington Place in Detroit, Michigan. Photo by Jeff Kowalsky/AFP via Getty Images. |
Former U.S. president Donald Trump announced that he selected Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio) as his running mate to be vice president in the 2024 election.
Writing on his Truth Social media platform two days after a failed assassination attempt against him at a rally in Pennsylvania, Trump said that the first-term senator and former Marine was the candidate “best suited” to be his vice president. (One attendee was killed and two were seriously hurt in the shooting.)
“As vice president, J.D. will continue to fight for our constitution, stand with our troops and will do everything he can to help me make America great again,” Trump wrote.
Trump’s decision ends months of speculation about who his running mate would be.
U.S. President Joe Biden was asked about the pick. “A clone of Trump on the issues,” the president said, per the pool report. “I don’t see any difference.”
Trump and Vance “are the most unifying and competitive ticket in political history,” stated Chris LaCivita and Susie Wiles, senior advisers to the Trump campaign. “Donald J. Trump’s record of success as a businessman and as a president who made America wealthy, safe, strong and great again, coupled with J.D. Vance’s inspirational biography, military service and dedication to America’s working families, will appeal to voters of all backgrounds across the country.”
“The GOP is the party of working Americans, and Senator Vance has long championed the rural men and women left behind in Joe Biden’s America,” stated Michael Whatley and Lara Trump, chair and co-chair respectively of the Republican National Committee.
“His experience, on top of President Trump’s accomplishments for rural communities, like negotiating fairer trade deals like the USMCA and cutting red tape for our farmers, will show Americans in the Heartland that they have a home in President Trump’s movement to Make America Great Again,” the duo added.
First millennial VP
Vance, who rose to national attention as the author of the best-selling memoir Hillbilly Elegy, was one of the most frequently mentioned names on Trump’s shortlist, which also reportedly included Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) and North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum.
At 39, Vance would be the country’s first millennial vice president, amid concerns about the ages of both Trump, 78, and U.S. President Joe Biden, 81.
News cameras spotted Vance leaving his Ohio home this morning in a motorcade heading for the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee. The vice presidential nomination was formally announced on the convention floor on Monday.
Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-La.) announced at the convention on Monday that the RNC delegates formally selected Trump as the Republican nominee.
A staunch critic of Trump during the 2016 election, who once described himself as a “‘Never Trump’ guy,” Vance has become one of the former president’s most stalwart supporters since the senator took office in 2023.
He has also embraced Trump’s brand of conservative politics that combines strong opposition to illegal immigration with a partial rejection of Republican orthodox positions on free trade and the economy.
On foreign policy, Vance has been one of the most prominent critics of U.S. policy towards Ukraine. In April, he wrote a guest essay in the New York Times arguing that “the math on Ukraine doesn’t add up.”
“The White House has said time and again that it can’t negotiate with President Vladimir Putin of Russia. This is absurd,” Vance wrote. “The Biden administration has no viable plan for the Ukrainians to win this war.”
Vance was one of 15 Republican senators who voted in April against the Ukraine-focused $95 billion foreign aid package that also included billions of dollars for Israel.
The senator argued at the time that rather than giving arms and money to many countries, the United States should instead prioritize shipping arms to Israel over Ukraine.
“I think Israel’s much more important to the United States than Ukraine is,” Vance said in a CNN interview in April. “If we pass the Ukraine and Israel supplemental and send a ton of weapons to Ukraine that the Israelis need, we’re actually weakening Israel in the name of helping them.”
The Republican Jewish Coalition lauded Vance on Monday as a strong supporter of Israel.
“A son of Middletown, Ohio, Marine Corps veteran and successful businessman, J.D. Vance’s life story is the quintessential American dream,” stated Norm Coleman and Matt Brooks, chairman and CEO respectively of the RJC.
“We also know Senator Vance will always
stand with the Jewish community and with America’s key strategic ally
Israel,” the duo added.
Congratulations to @JDVance1 on his selection as President Trump’s running mate. A powerful and inspiring ticket if ever there was one. On to victory in November! pic.twitter.com/M99uAP039E
— David M Friedman (@DavidM_Friedman) July 15, 2024
Andrew Bernard
Source: https://www.jns.org/trump-taps-ohio-senator-jd-vance-for-vp-slot/
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