Donald Trump has chosen Ohio Senator JD Vance as his running mate as the former US president seeks a return to the White House.
Vance, 39, rose to national prominence with the 2016 publication of his memoir, Hillbilly Elegy, which came out as Trump was first running for president.
Vance was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2022 and has emerged as one of the former president’s staunchest defenders of his “Make America Great Again” agenda, particularly on trade, foreign policy and immigration.
But he is an untested candidate in national politics and joins Trump's candidacy at an extraordinary time.
An attempted assassination of Trump at a rally on Saturday shook up the campaign, drawing new attention to the country's crude political rhetoric and reinforcing the importance of those who are one step away from the presidency.
From rural Ohio to the Marine Corps
Vance grew up in Middletown, Ohio, served in the Marine Corps, including in Iraq, and graduated from Ohio State University and Yale Law School.
From there, he joined a Silicon Valley investment firm before returning to Ohio to launch a nonprofit that he said would aim to develop treatments for opioid addiction that could be “scaled nationally.”
Ultimately, Our Ohio Renewal failed in that mission and closed.
The best-selling author
Vance’s memoir, Hillbilly Elegy, earned him a reputation as someone who could help explain Trump’s appeal in the American heartland, and especially among the white, working-class and rural voters who helped Trump win the presidency in 2016.
The book details life in Appalachian communities that moved away from a Democratic Party and left many residents feeling disconnected from their daily struggles.
Although the book was a bestseller, it was also criticized for sometimes oversimplifying rural life and ignoring the role of racism in modern politics.
Trump critic turned loyal supporter
During the early stages of Trump’s political career, Vance called him “a total fraud,” “a moral disaster” and “America’s Hitler.”
But like many Republicans who sought relevance in the Trump era, Vance eventually changed his tune. He said Trump’s performance in office proved him wrong and became one of his staunchest defenders.
Vance was rewarded for his about-face during his bid for an open Senate seat in 2022, during which he won Trump’s coveted endorsement and parlayed it into victory in a crowded Republican primary and a hotly contested general election for Democrats.
He was elected to the Senate in 2022 and has since become one of the staunchest defenders of the former president’s “Make America Great Again” agenda.
As a senator, Vance has shown a willingness to work with the opposing party.
He and Ohio Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown have teamed up on a number of issues important to the state, including fighting over funding for a $20 billion chip facility Intel is building in central Ohio and introducing railroad safety legislation in response to a 2023 freight train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio.
Opinions on the conflict between Israel and Palestine
Vance is a staunch defender of Israel and proposes a worldview based on “America First with an exception for Israel.”
“The United States is not good at micromanaging wars in the Middle East… I think our attitude toward the Israelis should be: look, we’re not good at micromanaging wars in the Middle East, the Israelis are our allies, let them wage this war the way they see fit,” he told CNN in an interview in May.
Vance was among the first to blame the Biden administration for allegedly empowering Hamas to carry out the Oct. 7 attack. Hours after the attack, he said that “Americans must face a harsh truth: our tax dollars funded this,” according to media reports.
“Money is fungible and many of the dollars we send to Iran are being used to kill innocent people. This must stop. Israel has every right to defend itself. I wish the best for our friends, but most of all I wish that they do not fight against weapons bought with our money,” he said.
