Donald Trump’s choice of J.D. (James David) Vance, a young senator from Ohio, as his running mate may be a tactical calculation for the upcoming election, but it might also signal the future of the Republican Party if its candidate wins. Vice presidents rarely have a major impact on the outcome of elections, but they usually run for president later in the election. So who is J.D. Vance?
Details
Vance’s short biography: He was born in 1984 to a poor and unhappy family in Ohio, in a rather depressing rural area, which he later described in his best-selling memoir, Hillbilly Elegy. Vance is the surname of his maternal grandparents, who raised him, which he later took; his father, whom he barely knew, is Bowman; for a time, he bore his stepfather’s surname, Hamel. He later enlisted in the Army, in the Marine Corps, became a war correspondent and spent six months in Iraq in 2005. After the army, Vance went to university, became a lawyer and wrote the book that made him famous. The next stage of his career was venture capitalism, and, importantly, then he met Peter Thiel, the famous entrepreneur, co-founder of PayPal and one of the first investors in Facebook, who preaches a political philosophy that combines technological development with conservative values.
J.D. Vance is known for being extremely negative regarding Donald Trump when he first ran for president in 2016, going so far as to compare him to Hitler. He later changed his mind, apologized for the past, became an ardent Trump supporter, and supported his baseless claims that the 2020 election was stolen. In 2022, with Trump’s support, Vance won the Senate race in Ohio.
Fun fact: the beard. Almost no one can resist mentioning that Vance might be the first US vice president with facial hair since Charles Curtisvice president under Herbert Hoover in the early 1930s. And if we’re talking regarding the beard, he’s the first bearded presidential or vice presidential candidate since Charles Hughes and Charles Fairbanks (pictured below) in 1916. Trump said he liked Vance’s appearance, saying he reminded him of “a young Lincoln.”
The big picture
Vance is the first millenialnominated at this level by a major party. At 39, he has little governing experience, served only two years as a senator, and critics will say he is not ready to be president, which is likely to happen given Trump’s age. And Vance will be debating current Vice President Kamala Harris, who will likely say so to his face.
Trump’s running mate is very conservative. His views on abortion are probably harsher than those of the “boss,” but he moderates them to avoid losing voters. Vance is unlikely to attract the centrist voters Trump needs. However, it is possible that Vance’s origins in the Rust Belt, an industrial region in the northeastern United States that has been in decline for decades, will allow him to add votes in the swing states of this “belt,” Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania. This is Biden’s last stronghold; if the incumbent president does not hold these states, he will almost certainly lose the election. In 2016, Trump won largely because he was supported by the white working class of the Rust Belt (and Vance’s transformation from an opponent to a Trump supporter may reflect the evolution that this class has undergone). In 2020, Biden returned these states to the Democrats. Now they are once more in the center of the fight.
Vance with his wife Usha Chilukuri Vance, the daughter of immigrants from India. The couple has three children
But beyond the electoral arithmetic, Vance may be an important ideological indicator of where the Republican Party is headed. As Axios writes, Vance is one of the leaders of the “new right,” which combines economic populism with nationalism and conservatism. Behind this are peculiar figures from the tech world like Thiel, who financially supported Vance, and now Elon Musk, with an unusual set of ideas that are far from liberal. Thiel is famous for saying that “he no longer believes that freedom and democracy are compatible.” Vance’s biggest lobbyist was Trump’s son, Donald Trump Jr. And this alliance of young conservatives with the money of big tech investors might make the Republican Party the party of the scum for years to come. MAGAlikely extending her “Trumpianism” into the 2030s.
It’s unlikely that this played a major role in Trump’s choice, but it’s important to note from Vance’s views that he is a strong opponent of aid to Ukraine. The Ohio senator has spoken to the effect that the Ukrainians should cede territory to Putin in exchange for peace.
What’s next
Vance’s choice may also mean that the dialogue regarding national reconciliation and a reduction in the level of political rhetoric that began to emerge following the assassination attempt on Trump has ended.
Immediately following the assassination attempt, Vance said: “The Biden campaign’s central message was that Trump is an authoritarian fascist who must be stopped at all costs. That rhetoric led directly to the assassination attempt.” The statement was criticized.
Biden’s campaign has already said Vance is being chosen because he is willing to do what Mike Pence, Trump’s vice president, failed to do in January 2021. Pence refused to block certification of the election, and Trump was very unhappy regarding it. In the crowd, stormed the Capitol on January 6there were calls for reprisals once morest Pence.
