In a highly anticipated announcement, former President Donald J. Trump has chosen Ohio Senator J.D. Vance to be his vice presidential running mate for the 2024 election.
The announcement was made on Monday, just as the Republican National Convention was set to kick off in Milwaukee.
Vance, a first-term senator from Ohio, rose to prominence after writing the 2016 memoir “Hillbilly Elegy,” in which he recounted his family’s struggles as working-class white Americans in rural Ohio and Kentucky.
Vance was once a fierce Trump critic who publicly stated that he did not vote for Trump in the 2016 election.
However, he has since reinvented himself as a staunch Trump ally and steward of the MAGA cause.
In 2021, Vance ran for Senate in Ohio and was able to gain Trump’s endorsement, which was widely seen as critical in him winning the Republican primary in that contest.
Since his pivot, Vance has become one of Trump’s most outspoken supporters, claiming the populism mantle that helped vault Trump to victory in 2016.
Strategically, Vance’s selection as vice president is seen as a direct appeal to Trump’s base rather than an attempt to try to expand that base.
Unlike Trump’s choice of Mike Pence eight years ago, which was widely interpreted as an attempt to moderate himself in the eyes of Republican voters, Vance is seen as a way to energize the core Trump supporters.
The selection of Vance as vice president is expected to be a major topic of discussion at the Republican National Convention, which began on Monday evening.
Well, now we know who the Repubs are really running…