Trump’s choice of vice-presidential candidate: – A crown prince

At the Republican National Convention, Trump revealed his choice on Monday, just two days following the assassination he narrowly survived.

American presidential candidates tend to bet on partners with different qualities than they have themselves. This can make it easier to reach out to new voter groups. But Trump went for a different strategy.

Aside from being much younger, Senator JD Vance has a lot in common with Trump. Both are white men, and they stand for the same political ideology.

– Trump chose him to give the core voters more of the same, says Hilmar Mjelde, US expert and professor at the Norwegian University of Applied Sciences, to NTB.

– Sure of victory

Had Trump prioritized attracting centrist voters, he might have chosen a more centrist vice-presidential candidate. If he wanted to reach out to more women or minority groups, he might bet on a woman or a person with a different skin colour.

Businessman and oil service CEO Dan Eberhart, who donates money to Trump’s election campaign, believes that Trump is now certain of victory in the presidential election in the autumn.

– He is confident that this election campaign is in the can, says Eberhart to the Reuters news agency.

According to Eberhart, this is why Trump did not see the need for a vice presidential candidate with appeal in specific, new voter groups.

Possible heir

Several commentators and experts believe that Trump wanted a vice-presidential candidate who might eventually become a new standard-bearer for the so-called Maga movement. The name derives from Trump’s slogan Make America Great Again.

– Trump is confident of victory and chose an heir to the Trump movement, says Mjelde.

Trump himself is 78 years old, and he has been president before. According to the constitution, he can therefore only be president for another four years.

Vance, on the other hand, is 39 years old and a fairly recent senator from the state of Ohio.

– He is now the young Maga crown prince who can take over the baton following Trump in 2028, says Mjelde.

Abortion and the border wall

Sean Spicer, press secretary in the White House when Trump was president, mean it is clear that Vance is the future front man of the Maga movement and the Republicans.

The desire for an heir played a large role in the choice of vice presidential candidate, believes Trump supporter Dan Eberhart.

– Trump wants to be sure that Maga survives him, he says ABC News.

The British newspaper The Guardian, which stands very far from Trump politically, write that the ex-president has designated a “mini-me”.

Vance supports restricting abortion rights and building more wall along the border with Mexico. Like Trump, he is negative regarding supporting Ukraine and taking action to cut emissions of greenhouse gases.

Poor conditions

The Ohio senator has also backed Trump’s unsubstantiated claim that the 2020 presidential election was “stolen”.

He has become part of the election campaign staff of President Joe Biden stamped both as an election denier and a Maga extremist on the far right wing.

In economic policy, Vance advocates protectionism and stricter control of the big tech companies. Here he differs from more traditional Republican politicians who want to give the business sector freer rein.

While Vance and Trump share many political views, they have very different family backgrounds. Vance grew up in poor conditions with a mother who was a drug addict.

He later served in the US Marines, before studying law at the top university, Yale. He then got a job at an investment company in Silicon Valley in California.

Important seesaw states

Vance first gained attention when he wrote the book “Hillbilly Elegy” regarding his own difficult upbringing.

It came out in 2016 and was reportedly panned by Democrats trying to figure out how poor Americans might vote for Donald Trump.

At this point, Vance was highly critical of Trump, calling him an idiot who might become “America’s Hitler.” Later, he has become a strong supporter of Trump and friends with the former president’s son.

The fact that Vance comes from Ohio can help Trump gather voters here and in the important swing states of Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

However, many commentators point out that Trump and Vance probably appeal to the same voters. Opinion polls moreover, suggests that Vance is currently not very well known in the American population.