Republican Sen. J.D. Vance of Ohio will be former President Donald Trump’s running mate.
“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,” the presumptive Republican presidential nominee posted Monday on his Truth Social platform.
“J.D. honorably 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. J.D.’s book, ‘Hillbilly Elegy,’ became a Major Best Seller and Movie, as it championed the hardworking men and women of our Country.
“J.D. has had a very successful business career in Technology and Finance, and now, during the Campaign, 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.”
One of Vance’s prime roles will be to take on Vice President Kamala Harris in a scheduled debate between the running mates.
It’s JD Vance. pic.twitter.com/Bd2KmpYq9e
— Catturd ™ (@catturd2) July 15, 2024
Speculation rose after Vance left home Monday in a protective motorcade. Cincinnati police, Ohio State Highway Patrol troopers and agents of the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives appeared around the senator’s home Sunday evening, according to WLWT-TV.
Are you happy with Vance as Trump’s running mate?
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine said he authorized the additional security in light of Saturday’s assassination attempt on Trump.
Vance left his home Monday in the presence of intense security, as noted by a video posted to X.
Sen. JD Vance of Ohio seen leaving his home with a protective motorcade, as reports increasingly suggest he is Trump’s vice presidential pick.
Video via @Forbes pic.twitter.com/AwusvQVEqx
— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) July 15, 2024
According to The Sun, the senator’s wife, Usha Chilukuri Vance, accompanied him.
Vance, whose name has been at the top of many lists of potential Trump running mates, came out with strong statements criticizing President Joe Biden while praising Trump after the former president was shot during a rally in Pennsylvania.
“Today is not just some isolated incident. The central premise of the Biden campaign is that President Donald Trump is an authoritarian fascist who must be stopped at all costs. That rhetoric led directly to President Trump’s attempted assassination,” he posted on X.
Today is not just some isolated incident.
The central premise of the Biden campaign is that President Donald Trump is an authoritarian fascist who must be stopped at all costs.
That rhetoric led directly to President Trump’s attempted assassination.
— J.D. Vance (@JDVance1) July 14, 2024
Courageous, United, and Defiant. This is leadership. pic.twitter.com/LBrdK8WpCR
— J.D. Vance (@JDVance1) July 14, 2024
Vance has been an aggressive voice criticizing the Biden administration.
“I think it takes a special amount of gall to be from Joe Biden’s political party and to complain about the fentanyl crisis that is ravaging, not just Ohio, but the entire country, because it is Joe Biden’s border policies that have invited this fentanyl into our country at record levels,” he said in comments posted on his website last year.
At the time, he said that “we are living in a banana republic where the President is using his Department of Justice to go after his chief political rival.”