Former
President
Donald
Trump
has
chosen
Sen.
J.D.
Vance
of
Ohio
to
be
his
vice
presidential
running
mate
this
November.
Trump
announced
his
VP
pick
on
social
media
just
before
he
was
to
accept
the
presidential
nomination
at
the
Republican
National
Convention
in
Milwaukee
on
Monday.
Trump
wrote,
“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.”
He
said
of
Vance
that
he
had
“honourably
served
our
Country
in
the
Marine
Corps,
graduated
from
Ohio
State
University
in
two
years,
Summa
Cum
Laude,
and
is
a
Yale
Law
School
Graduate,
where
he
was
Editor
of
The
Yale
Law
Journal
and
President
of
the
Yale
Law
Veterans
Association.”
The
former
president
noted
that
Vance’s
book,
“Hillbilly
Elegy,”
was
a
bestseller
that
“championed
the
hardworking
men
and
women
of
our
Country.”
And
he
pointed
to
Vance’s
previous
career
as
a
venture
capitalist.
Sources
confirmed
before
Vance’s
selection
was
announced
that
Florida
Sen.
Marco
Rubio
and
North
Dakota
Gov.
Doug
Burgum,
who
were
also
considered
to
be
top
contenders
for
the
No.
2
job,
were
informed
that
they
had
not
been
chosen.
Although
Vance
wasn’t
at
Trump’s
Pennsylvania
rally
where
a
shooter
attempted
the
former
president’s
life,
the
senator
expressed
his
concern
and
support
for
the
president
from
Ohio.
He
also
shared
fundraising
information
for
the
families
of
those
who
were
killed
or
injured
at
the
rally.
“Courageous,
United,
and
Defiant.
This
is
leadership,”
Vance
wrote
on
X
over
the
weekend
after
Trump
asked
Americans
to
remain
“resilient”
in
their
faith
and
“defiant
in
the
face
of
wickedness.”
Vance
has
frequently
joined
Trump
on
the
campaign
trail
and
was
long
considered
to
be
on
the
shortlist
of
VP
contenders.
Vance
and
his
wife,
Usha,
were
spotted
leaving
their
Ohio
home
Monday
morning,
a
sign
that
Vance
might
be
the
pick.
Ohio
has
been
a
reliably
Republican-dominated
state
in
recent
elections,
although
the
senior
senator
from
the
state,
Sherrod
Brown,
is
a
Democrat
and
is
also
up
for
reelection
this
year.
But
Trump
has
focused
less
on
choosing
a
running
mate
from
a
key
battleground
state
and
more
on
the
qualities
in
a
candidate
that
matter
most
to
him.
Trump
has
prioritized
picking
a
running
mate
who
would
be
loyal
to
him
and
support
him
publicly,
as
Vance
has
increasingly
done
through
the
years.
Initially,
though,
Vance
harshly
criticized
Trump
and
was
an
avowed
“Never-Trump
guy.”
Earlier
this
year,
Fox
News’
Bett
Baier
confronted
Vance
with
some
of
his
previous
statements,
including
comments
that
Trump
could
be
“America’s
Hitler”
and
“cultural
heroin.”
Vance
told
Baier
he
was
“wrong”
about
Trump.
“I
think
you
should,
when
you
are
wrong
about
something,
you
should
change
your
mind
and
be
honest
with
people
about
that
fact,”
Vance
said
in
the
interview.
Vance
grew
up
in
challenging
circumstances,
largely
raised
by
his
grandparents
before
going
on
to
college
and
law
school
at
Yale.
Now
one
of
Trump’s
most
vocal
allies,
Vance
defended
the
former
president
during
his
criminal
trial
in
Manhattan,
including
after
his
conviction
on
34
felony
counts
of
falsifying
business
records
for
“hush
money”
payments.
“The
entire
purpose
of
this
trial
was
to
allow
the
media
and
the
Democrats
to
say
exactly
that,”
Vance
told
CNN
after
the
New
York
verdict.
“This
was
never
about
justice,
this
is
about
plastering
‘convicted
felon’
all
over
the
airwaves
when
in
reality
the
only
thing
that
Donald
Trump
is
guilty
of
is
being
in
the
courtroom
of
a
political
sham
trial.”
Asked
in
a
June
interview
on
“Face
the
Nation”
about
his
interest
in
the
vice
presidency
and
his
relatively
brief
experience
in
the
Senate,
Vance
said,
“In
18
months
…
we’ve
done
a
lot
of
good
work
for
our
constituents.”
“We’ve
got
hundreds
of
millions
of
dollars
to
the
Great
Lakes,”
he
continued.
“We’ve
done
a
lot
to
help
the
people
of
East
Palestine
deal
with
the
terrible
train
disaster.
And,
of
course,
we’ve
done
a
lot
of
work
on
making
sure
that
Ohio
has
gotten
defense
resources
that
make
not
just
Ohio,
but
our
country
stronger.
So
there’s
a
lot
we
can
hang
our
hat
on.”