JD Vance, a first-term GOP Senator from Ohio, has claimed a coveted spot on the November ballot alongside former President Trump as Trump tries to reclaim the White House four years after losing to President Biden.
A young, outspoken former venture capitalist, Vance was long suspected to be a top contender to become Trump's running mate before Trump made the reportedly quick call as the Republican National Convention convened in Milwaukee on Monday. The move brings to the ticket a former critic who has since curried favor with Trump's MAGA base and become one of Trump's most ardent acolytes.
Vance's rapid 180 from one of Trump's harshest critics to a fierce ally and defender appeared to fast-track his placement on Trump's VP shortlist.
Just eight years ago, Vance declared himself a "Never Trumper," and searingly referred to Trump as a "a total fraud," "a moral disaster" and "America's Hitler," among other barbs.
"I don't hide from that," Vance said in a Fox News interview Monday. "I was certainly skeptical of Donald Trump in 2016. But President Trump was a great president, and he changed my mind."
He added that he feels he "bought into the media's lies and distortions" about Trump.
"I bought into this idea that somehow he was going to be so different, a terrible threat to democracy," he said. "It was a joke."
Vance's background is diametrically at odds with Trump's. The former president, a 78-year-old billionaire real estate tycoon who once made waves in Manhattan social circles and as host of NBC's "The Apprentice," is the oldest candidate to win the GOP presidential nomination.
Vance, who will be 40 on Inauguration Day if the duo wins, would be the third-youngest vice president. He also brings a lesser-known national profile to the table, leaving room for voters to decide how they view him, polls have suggested.
Vance is also author of best-selling book "Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis," which hit the silver screen in 2020. The book chronicled Vance's family's struggles and the problems that plagued his Ohio hometown, Middleton.
Vance was greeted with boisterous applause that when he stepped onto the convention floor with his wife, Usha, beaming at his side.
California native Usha Vance, 38, is a lawyer who has previously clerked for Supreme Court Chief Justices John Roberts and Brett Kavanaugh.
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