Ohio Senator JD Vance, a strong critic of former US President Donald Trump, is now the Republican presidential candidate's nominee for Vice President. Interestingly, Vance once even called Trump 'America's Hitler', "cultural heroin", a 'moral disaster' and an "idiot".
On Monday, Trump took to his Truth Social platform to announce Vance as his running mate for the November elections. “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 JD Vance of the Great State of Ohio,” he said.
What made Trump pick his vocal critic JD Vance as running mate?
Vance has close ties with Trump's eldest son Donald Trump Jr, who reportedly pushed his father to pick the Ohio senator.
Many political commentators believe that Vance, 39, has a strong appeal among the white working class and Trump sees him as a person who can swing the votes in battleground states like Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin.
Vance's wife Usha Chilukuri is of Indian origin and this could be a wooing factor for minorities, according to CNN.
Following the attempted assassination on Trump on Saturday, Vance wrote on X, “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."
Vance has openly objected to foreign aid, including for Ukraine. When it comes to tariffs and immigration, Vance echoes Trump's stance. The Ohio senator has also emphasised on the need to complete the border wall with Mexico. These are largely in line with Trump's foreign policy vision.
If the 39-year-old becomes vice president, he will be one of the youngest since Richard Nixon who served twice under President Dwight Eisenhower. This could be another reason for Trump picking Vance.
How Hillbilly Elegy spurred JD Vance's political career?
Though once a Trump critic, venture capitalist Vance's political career was spurred by his best-seller memoir Hillbilly Elegy. In the book, he recalls when he was raised in rural Kentucky and he spoke about the post-industrial Ohio rust-belt and how the voters in the Appalachians shifted their allegiance from Demoract to Republican.
The book became a talking point after Trump's victory in 2016. It was adapted into a movie of the same name in 2020, earning best supporting actress nomination at the Oscars. After Trump's announcement of Vance's VP nomination on Monday, the book became No 1 on Amazon.com, up from No 220 earlier in the day.