MILWAUKEE (AP) 鈥� Former President chose of Ohio as his running mate on Monday, picking a onetime critic who became a loyal ally and is now the first millennial to join a major-party ticket at a time of deep concern about the advanced age of America鈥檚 political leaders.
鈥淎fter 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 got underway in Milwaukee.
Shortly after his announcement, Vance arrived on the floor of the Republican National Convention for his formal nomination, walking out to Merle Haggard's 鈥淎merican First."
The 39-year-old Vance rose to national fame with the 2016 publication of his memoir, 鈥淗illbilly Elegy.鈥� He was elected to the Senate in 2022 and has become one of the staunchest champions of the former president鈥檚 鈥淢ake America Great Again鈥� agenda, particularly on trade, foreign policy and immigration.
But he is largely untested in national politics and is joining the Trump ticket at an extraordinary moment in American history. An of Trump at a rally Saturday has shaken the campaign, bringing new attention to the nation鈥檚 coarse political rhetoric and reinforcing the importance of those who are one heartbeat away from the presidency.
Vance himself faced criticism in the wake of the shooting for a post on X that suggested President Joe Biden was to blame for the violence.
鈥淭he central premise of the Biden campaign is that President is an authoritarian fascist who must be stopped at all costs,鈥� Vance wrote. 鈥淭hat rhetoric led directly to President Trump鈥檚 attempted assassination.鈥�
Law enforcement has not yet specified a motivation for the shooting.
Why Vance was chosen over the other finalists
The pick is sure to energize Trump鈥檚 loyal base. Vance has become a fixture on the conservative media circuit and frequently spars with reporters on Capitol Hill, helping establish him as the kind of leader who could carry Trump鈥檚 mantle into the future, beginning with the next presidential election in 2028.
But the pick also means that two white men will now lead the Republican ticket at a time when Trump has sought to make inroads with Black and Latino voters.
In his post announcing his pick, Trump said Vance 鈥渨ill 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.鈥� Several of those Midwestern states are expected to play a critical role in November鈥檚 election.
But Vance also had another advantage: his chemistry with Trump. Personal relationships are extremely important to the former president and he and Vance have developed a strong rapport, speaking on the phone regularly.
Trump has also complimented Vance鈥檚 looks, saying he reminded him of "a young Abraham Lincoln.鈥�
Trump and Vance spoke about 20 minutes before the Truth Social post and Trump formally offered him the job, according to a person familiar with the call who, like others, requested anonymity to share the private conversation.
Trump had long said he wanted to dramatically reveal his pick onstage at , which he said would make it more 鈥渋nteresting鈥� and 鈥渆xciting.鈥� The timing is later than in recent cycles, but hardly unprecedented. In 1980, Ronald Reagan made his decision less than 24 hours before he formally accepted the GOP nomination, and George H.W. Bush waited until his convention in 1988.
Biden's reelection campaign issued a statement calling out Vance for saying, had he been vice president, he would have allowed 鈥渕ultiple slates of electors鈥� to challenge Biden's victory over Trump four years ago. Trump repeatedly promoted falsehoods about election fraud before and after Jan. 6, 2021, when rioters loyal to the former president stormed the Capitol to try to stop the certification of his loss.
鈥淒onald Trump picked J.D. Vance as his running mate because Vance will do what Mike Pence wouldn鈥檛 on January 6: bend over backwards to enable Trump and his extreme MAGA agenda, even if it means breaking the law and no matter the harm to the American people," Biden campaign chair Jen O'Malley Dillon said in the statement.
Florida Sen. Marco Rubio and North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, the other contenders on Trump鈥檚 shortlist, had been informed earlier Monday afternoon that they were not his pick, according to people familiar with their conversations.
Conversations in the last 10 days between Rubio and Trump鈥檚 campaign had focused on concerns about the fact that both men reside in Florida, according to a person familiar with the private talks who insisted on anonymity to discuss them. The Trump campaign wanted to be 100% sure that there would not be a protracted legal battle over the issue, and Rubio was unwilling to uproot his family, the person said.
Trump had spent months testing the field, assessing how his contenders performed on television, at fundraisers and on rally stages. Several, including Burgum and Vance, joined him at his criminal hush money trial in New York. Others were there at the debate last month, where Biden鈥檚 disastrous performance upended his campaign, leading to widespread calls for him to step aside in favor or a younger candidate.
In 鈥淗illbilly Elegy,鈥� Vance detailed life in Appalachian communities that drifted from a Democratic Party many residents found disconnected from their daily travails. While the book was a bestseller, it was also criticized for sometimes oversimplifying rural life and ignoring the role of racism in modern politics.
Vance once was a harsh Trump critic
The relationship between Vance and Trump has been symbiotic.
Vance鈥檚 fame grew in tandem with Trump鈥檚 unlikely rise from a reality television star to Republican presidential nominee and eventually president. During the early stages of Trump鈥檚 political career, Vance cast him as 鈥渁 total fraud,鈥� 鈥渁 moral disaster鈥� and 鈥淎merica鈥檚 Hitler.鈥�
But like many Republicans who sought relevance in the Trump era, Vance eventually shifted his tone. He said he was proved wrong by Trump鈥檚 performance in office and evolved into one of his most steadfast defenders.
鈥淚 didn鈥檛 think he was going to be a good president,鈥� Vance recently told Fox News Channel. 鈥淗e was a great president. And it鈥檚 one of the reasons why I鈥檓 working so hard to make sure he gets a second term.鈥�
Vance was rewarded for his turnaround during his bid for an open Senate seat in 2022, during which he landed Trump鈥檚 coveted endorsement and rode it to victory in a crowded Republican primary and a general election hard fought by Democrats. He is close to Trump鈥檚 son Donald Jr.
鈥淟isten, I鈥檝e seen him on TV,鈥� Donald Trump Jr. said of Vance, speaking to CNN from the convention floor. 鈥淚鈥檝e seen him prosecute the case against the Democrats. No one鈥檚 more articulate than that. And I think his story, his background, really helps us in a lot of the places that you鈥檙e going to need from the Electoral College standpoint.鈥�
Vance is now a Trump loyalist who has challenged the legitimacy of criminal prosecutions and civil verdicts against him and questions the results of the 2020 election.
He told ABC News in February that, if he had been vice president on Jan. 6, 2021, he would have told states where Trump disputed Biden wins 鈥渢hat we needed to have multiple slates of electors, and I think the U.S. Congress should have fought over it from there.鈥�
鈥淭hat is the legitimate way to deal with an election that a lot of folks, including me, think had a lot of problems in 2020,鈥� he said.
Many states adopted emergency measures four years ago to allow people to vote safely during the COVID-19 pandemic. But judges, election officials in both parties and Trump鈥檚 own attorney general have concluded there was no evidence of widespread voter fraud in the 2020 election.
Vance's book vaulted him to national prominence
Vance鈥檚 book 鈥� subtitled 鈥淎 Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis鈥� 鈥� was embraced for its , where manufacturing job losses and the opioid crisis had driven many families like his into poverty, abuse and addiction.
The tale of Vance鈥檚 hardscrabble childhood in Middletown, Ohio, where he was born, and his familial eastern Kentucky hills region also captivated Hollywood. Ron Howard made it into a 2020 movie starring Amy Adams as Vance鈥檚 mother and Glenn Close as his beloved 鈥淢amaw.鈥�
With his grandmother鈥檚 encouragement, Vance went on to serve in the Marine Corps, including in Iraq, and to graduate 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 opioid addiction treatments that might be 鈥渟caled nationally.鈥�
Ultimately, Our Ohio Renewal and was shuttered. During the 2022 campaign, then-U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan, his Democratic rival, charged that the charity was little more than a front for Vance鈥檚 political ambitions. Ryan pointed to reports that the organization made payments to a Vance political adviser and conducted public opinion polling, even as its actual efforts to address addiction largely floundered. Vance denied the characterization.
As a senator, Vance has shown some willingness to work across the aisle. He and Ohio鈥檚 senior senator, Democrat Sherrod Brown, have teamed up on a number of issues important to the state, including fighting for funding for a in central Ohio and introducing in response to the .
___
Smyth reported from Butler, Pennsylvania. Associated Press writers Mary Clare Jalonick, Michelle L. Price and Will Weissert contributed to this report.
___
Follow the AP's coverage of the 2024 election at .
Jill Colvin, Julie Carr Smyth, Steve Peoples And Zeke Miller, The Associated Press
