By Goodluck Ikiebe
Donald Trump and Senator Vance
Former President Donald Trump has picked Ohio Senator J.D. Vance as his running mate, elevating a staunch ally and young GOP star who, less than a decade ago, rose to prominence as a Trump critic.
But over the last few years, Vance, 39, has emerged as a Trump loyalist, becoming one of his most vocal defenders in the Senate and a frequent surrogate on television as he called for the party to embrace Trump’s populist agenda.
Trump announced his choice on Monday afternoon on social media as the delegates to the GOP convention gathered in Milwaukee.
“After lengthy deliberation and thought, and considering the tremendous talents of many others, I have decided that the person best suited to assume the position of Vice President of the United States is Senator J.D. Vance of the Great State of Ohio,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social website.
Meanwhile, by selecting Vance, Trump ignored calls from some in the party to choose a running mate who would add racial diversity to the ticket or use softer rhetoric to appeal to Trump-skeptical moderates, instead tapping a firebrand who shares Trump’s pugilistic tendencies and is admired by the MAGA base.
Though, Vance could expand Trump’s appeal in other ways, however. He hails from the Rust Belt, which includes portions of the critical swing states of Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin. He’s also a Marine veteran, and would be the second youngest Vice President — tied with Richard Nixon — if Trump wins in November.
Trump stressed that Vance, on the campaign trail “will be strongly focused on the people he fought so brilliantly for, the American Workers and Farmers in Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, Ohio, Minnesota, and far beyond.”
But Vance’s past harsh criticisms of Trump, which he has vehemently walked back, will almost certainly be used against him by Democrats.
Vance, a former venture capitalist and the author of the bestselling memoir, “Hillbilly Elegy,” before running for elective office, was one of a handful of Republicans considered top running mate contenders. That group included North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum and Sens. Marco Rubio of Florida and Tim Scott of South Carolina.
While Vance hails from Ohio, a one-time battleground state the former President comfortably carried in the 2016 and 2020 elections, the senator’s selection is expected to boost Trump among working-class Democrats, especially across the Rust Belt, who otherwise might have been supporters of President Biden, according to multiple experts who spoke with Fox News Digital as Trump was weighing his options.
Vance grew up in a working-class family in a small city in southwestern Ohio. His parents divorced when he was young, and as his mother struggled for years with drug and alcohol abuse, Vance was raised in part by his maternal grandparents.