Donald Trump has chosen Sen. JD Vance of Ohio as his presidential running mate, ending months of speculation about the Republican candidate’s choice to help him challenge President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris.
“After much deliberation and consideration, and considering the immense talents of many others, I have decided that the person best suited to fill the office of Vice President of the United States is Senator JD Vance of the Great State of Ohio.” Trump said Monday in a post on Truth Social.
Vance was officially selected as Trump’s running mate later Monday afternoon during the first day of the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Trump was officially selected as the GOP presidential nominee earlier in the day.
Trump’s choice for Vice President, U.S. Sen. JD Vance (R-OH) arrives on the first day of the Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum on July 15, 2024 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Andrew Harnik | Getty Images
Trump’s selection is a sudden, huge upset for Vance, 39, who joined the Senate as a junior less than two years ago.
It’s also the culmination of a long-term turn toward Trumpism for Vance, who was once an outspoken critic of Trump.
Vance rose to fame in 2016 with his bestselling memoir Hillbilly Elegy, which traced his rural Ohio upbringing and delved into Appalachian culture and politics.
While not without it criticsthe book quickly earned Vance a reputation as a forceful political analyst who, despite his Ivy League education, possessed a unique sense of how the white working class viewed the rest of the country.
In the private sector, Vance worked for Mithril Capital, the venture capital firm run by Peter Thiel, and started his own VC firm, Naryain 2019.
Vance is running in 2022 for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by retiring Sen. Rob Portman, a Republican. Vance beat former Rep. Tim RyanD-Ohio, by a 53%-47% margin and took office in January 2023.
In an interview with Fox News’ Sean Hannity that aired Monday night, Vance described getting the call from Trump earlier in the day asking him to be his vice president.
“He just said, ‘Look, I think we should go save this country. I think you are the guy who can help me in the best way. You can help me rule. Can you help me win? You can help me in some of these Midwestern states like Pennsylvania, Michigan and so on,” Vance said Trump told him.
Two other leading Republican vice presidential candidates, Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida and North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, were told earlier that they would not be selected for the role, NBC News reported.
The Biden campaign immediately ordered the pick, accusing Trump of choosing Vance because he would “bend over backwards to allow Trump and his extreme MAGA agenda, even if it means breaking the law and regardless of the damage to American people.”
“Billionaires and corporations are literally rooting for JD Vance: they know he and Trump will cut their taxes and raise prices for everyone else,” said a statement from Biden-Harris campaign chairwoman Jen O Maley Dillon.
U.S. Sen. JD Vance (R-OH) and his wife Usha Chilukuri Vance look on as he runs for Vice President on the first day of the Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum on July 15, 2024 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Anna Moneymaker | News Getty Images | Getty Images
Harris had previously accepted an invitation from CBS News to participate in one vice presidential debate on July 23 or August 13.
After Trump revealed his pick, Harris left Vance a message congratulating him and welcoming him to the race, a source familiar with the call told NBC.
Shortly after Vance was announced as Trump’s running mate, the senator’s wife, Usa Vance, resigned from the law firm Munger, Tolles & Olson, where she worked as an attorney.
“Usha has informed us that she has decided to leave the company,” according to a statement from the company shared with CNBC. “Usha has been an outstanding attorney and colleague and we thank her for her years of service and wish her the best in her future career.”
(LR) JD Vance, a Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate in Ohio, shakes hands with former President Donald Trump during a rally hosted by the former president at the Delaware County Fairgrounds on April 23, 2022 in Delaware, Ohio.
Drew Anger | News Getty Images | Getty Images
Before entering politics, Vance had accused Trump of being a “total fraud” and even compared him and his MAGA political movement to a harmful drug.
“Trump’s promises are the needle in America’s collective vein,” Vance said he wrote in The Atlantic before Trump won the 2016 election.
But as a politician, Vance has morphed into one of the most loyal and staunch supporters of both Trump and his nationalist, populist policies.
In his Hannity interview, Vance said he wasn’t trying to “hide” from his past criticism of Trump.
“I was definitely skeptical of Donald Trump in 2016,” Vance told Hannity. “But President Trump was a great president, and he changed my mind. I think he changed the minds of a lot of Americans because, again, he offered that peace and prosperity.”
This composite photo shows, from left, Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla.; and North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum.
AP
In recent months, Vance has been quick to demonstrate his new pro-Trump stance.
He was among a parade of Republicans who showed up outside Trump’s criminal trial in New York to decry the prosecution of the GOP leader.
He later claimed the trial was “election interference” and that its “primary goal” was “psychological torture” against Trump. The jury in that trial convicted Trump of 34 counts of falsifying business records. Trump is currently scheduled to be sentenced on September 18.
After Trump survived a shocking assassination attempt at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania over the weekend, Vance falsely blamed the Biden campaign for the attack.
“The central premise of the Biden campaign is that President Donald Trump is an authoritarian fascist who must be stopped at all costs,” Vance wrote hours after the shooting. “That rhetoric led directly to the assassination attempt on President Trump.”
The attack, which left one rally-goer dead and Trump with a minor injury, shocked the country and prompted condemnation of the violence across the political aisle.
Biden, in an Oval Office speech after the shooting at a Trump rally, urged Americans to turn down the heat on political rhetoric and affirm democratic norms of political dissent and decency.
As a senator, Vance has opposed the US sending aid to Ukraine as it battles Russian invasion forces and has repeatedly voted against legislation that would preserve or expand federal abortion rights.
Vance’s announcement added to an already eventful day of Trump-related news.
Earlier Monday morning, federal judge Elaine Cannon dismissed the criminal case accusing the former president of illegally retaining classified documents and obstructing the government’s efforts to retrieve them.
— CNBC’s Josephine Rozzelle contributed reporting.