NATIONAL (WDNews) – Former President Donald Trump chose Ohio senator JD Vance as his running mate on Monday, July 15 ahead of the start of the Republican National Convention.
Vance is a former critic of Trump, although the pair have recently become close allies.
“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,” Trump said in a post on his Truth Social network as the Republican National Convention started in Milwaukee.
The 39-year-old Ohio senator rose to national fame with the 2016 publication of his memoir, “Hillbilly Elegy.” He was elected to the Senate in 2022. He has become one of the strongest champions of the former president’s “Make America Great Again” agenda, particularly on trade, foreign policy, and immigration.
Vance is the first millennial to join a major-party ticket during a time of deep concern about the age of America’s political leaders.
“I was certainly skeptical of Donald Trump in 2016, but President Trump was a great president and he changed my mind,” Vance said in his interview with Hannity. “I think he changed the minds of a lot of Americans, because again he delivered that peace and prosperity.”
Trump says that he believes Vance can appeal to working-class voters viewed as essential to winning the key battleground states in November, given his upbringing in a poor Rust Belt town in Ohio.
