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Trump picks 39-year-old Ohio Senator as his running mate

Vance has evolved from dubbing Trump “America's Hitler” to becoming his running mate for the Nov. 5 elections (Pic Alamy)

Former US President Donald J. Trump Monday announced he was picking Ohio Senator James David Vance as his running mate for the Nov. 5 elections where he would be seeking his return ticket to the White House. Just a few days after an assassination attempt on his life, Trump conveyed his decisions to his followers through social media before accepting the Republican nomination at the Party Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

“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 wrote.

He added that the 39-year-old Vance had served in the Marine Corps, graduated from Ohio State University in two years, Summa Cum Laude, and was a Yale Law School Graduate, where he was Editor of The Yale Law Journal and President of the Yale Law Veterans Association, among other achievements.

Trump also noted that Vance's book “Hillbilly Elegy” was a bestseller that “championed the hardworking men and women of our Country.”

According to US media, Trump had also considered Florida Senator Marco Rubio and North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum for the VP spot.

Oddly enough, Vance did not attend Saturday's rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, where a shooter hit the former president's right ear with a rifle shot before being gunned down by Secret Service snipers. However, Vance did express his concern and support and shared fundraising information for the families of those killed or injured at the event. “Courageous, United, and Defiant. This is leadership,” Vance wrote on X over the weekend.

After not ending up on good terms with Mike Pence following the 2020 elections when they were defeated by Joseph Biden and Kamala Harris, Trump was said to be cautious this time around picking someone who would remain loyal to him, which Vance has been in recent years after dubbing the former head of state “America's Hitler” and “cultural heroin” in the past, eventually admitting that he was wrong. “I think you should, when you are wrong about something, you should change your mind and be honest with people about that fact,” Vance said in an interview.

Regarding Trump's recent conviction in a New York State court on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records for “hush money” payments, Vance claimed that the “entire purpose of this trial was to allow the media and the Democrats” to plaster “convicted felon” all over the airwaves “when in reality the only thing that Donald Trump is guilty of is being in the courtroom of a political sham trial.”

Vance won his seat in the Upper House in 2021 thanks to the key endorsement he received from Trump.