After months of speculation and many names being tossed around, former President Trump has announced Ohio Senator J.D. Vance (R-OH) as his running mate for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination.
Trump’s decision didn’t appear to be finalized until just before he announced it at Truth Social, the first day of the Republican National Convention on Monday. But Vance beat out a number of other contenders who had been considered as Trump’s running mate, including other finalists Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) and Gov. Doug Burgum (R-North Dakota).
Vance has come a long way, from being one of Trump’s most vocal critics in the 2016 presidential election to running alongside him for the White House in 2024. But much has changed since then, and Vance has become an attractive choice to be Trump’s No. 2.
The first-term senator has distanced himself sharply from comments he made about Trump eight years ago. Vance called Trump “toxic” and “reprehensible” and considered himself a “big Trump fan.”
He also urged Republicans not to make excuses for Trump after the then-candidate was caught on tape on “Access Hollywood” bragging about grabbing women by the groin because they were “stars.”
“Fellow Christians, all of you are watching us. May the Lord help us as we apologize to this man,” Vance tweeted.
But Vance began defending Trump during his administration and has since become one of his most ardent supporters. He has expressed regret for deleting and reposting old posts criticizing Trump.
Vance endorsed Trump’s reelection bid in 2020, and Trump endorsed Vance when he ran for the Ohio Republican nomination for Senate in 2022.
Vance reiterated his previous criticism of Trump as “wrong” in a May interview with CNN’s Dana Bash.
“I didn’t think he would be a good president, Dana, and I was very, very proud to be proven wrong. That’s one of the reasons I worked so hard to get him elected,” he said.
He also supported Trump’s false claims of voter fraud in the 2020 presidential election and denounced criminal charges brought against the former president as bogus.
Vance will also benefit from some name recognition. He first gained attention in 2016 with his memoir, “Hillbilly Elegy,” which became a New York Times bestseller. The book was eventually made into a movie, which was released in 2020.
His home state of Ohio will also play a key role in November, with a close race for Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown (D). Brown will face Republican Bernie Moreno in a tight race that could help determine which party controls the Senate in the next session.
While Ohio has been trending more conservative recently and Trump is likely to win the state easily, Brown’s years of incumbency and popularity make the Senate race more difficult for Republicans. Vance, a Buckeye, could be more interested in winning the seat as Republicans look to retake the Senate majority.
He also balances Trump’s age in that he is the oldest Republican nominee in history. Vance will be just 40 on Inauguration Day, and if elected, he would be the third-youngest vice president in history.
Vance, the youngest of all the major candidates Trump considered, has tapped into a younger generation as a Republican, with both parties expressing a desire for the country’s next leader.
