Trump and JD VanceReuters
Trump picks Senator J.D. Vance as his running mate
Former President announces he has chosen Ohio’s junior senator, author of ‘Hillbilly Elegy’ to be his running mate and Vice Presidential candidate.
Former US President Donald Trump announced Monday that he has chosen Ohio Senator Ohio J.D. Vance as his running mate in this year’s presidential election.
The announcement was made on the first day of the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee.
Trump wrote on Truth Social, “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. 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,” the former president added.
The announcement comes two days after Trump was nearly assassinated during a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. Trump was shot in the ear, narrowly avoiding being shot in the skull when he turned his head right before the gunman opened fire.
A civilian was killed and two others critically wounded in the shooting. The shooter was shot and killed by Secret Service snipers.
Vance, a former US Marine, was elected to the Senate in 2022. He is a supporter of the State of Israel and has argued that America’s support for Israel in its war with Hamas is more important than its support for Ukraine in its war with Russia.
In a speech at a conference of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft in May, Vance said, “I’m supportive of Israel and their war against Hamas. I certainly admire the Ukrainians who are fighting against Russia, but I do not think that it is in America’s interest to continue to fund an effectively never-ending war in Ukraine.”
He added, “It’s sort of weird that this town assumes that Israel and Ukraine are exactly the same. They’re not, of course, and I think it’s important to analyze them in separate buckets.”
In an interview with CNN, Vance blamed Hamas for civilian casualties in Gaza, saying, “Hamas started the war, and now they hide behind Palestinian civilians. So if you want to learn the lessons of the last 40 years, the most important thing is we have to defeat Hamas as a viable military organization.”
He added, “You’re never going to defeat the ideology of Hamas, but you can root out those commanders, those final military-trained battalions, and I think you should empower the Israelis to do it.”
