Trump—who survived an assassination attempt at a
Pennsylvania campaign rally on Saturday—announced his pick on the opening day
of the Republican Party's convention in Wisconsin with a post on his Truth
social media platform, calling Vance "the person best suited" to be
vice president.
"JD honorably served our country in the Marine Corps,
graduated from Ohio State University in two years, summa cum laude, and is a
Yale Law School graduate, where he was the editor of the Yale Law Journal,
and president of the Yale Law Veterans Association," Trump wrote.
"JD's book, Hillbilly Elegy, became a major bestseller and movie, as
it championed the hardworking men and women of our country."
Vance's selection came two days after the senator took to
social media to assert that President Joe Biden's rhetoric—including
the assertion that Trump "is an authoritarian fascist who must be stopped
at all costs"—led "directly" to Trump's attempted assassination.
Should he accept his selection, Vance—who turns 40 next
month—would be making a stark departure from his previous views on Trump.
"I'm a Never Trump guy," Vance said in a
2016 interview with the late Charlie Rose. "I never liked him."
"My God what an idiot," he said of Trump
on social media that same year.
In another message explaining his views on the rise of
Trump, Vance wrote that the Republican Party "has itself to
blame."
"Trump is the fruit of the party's collective
neglect" of working-class Americans, Vance argued. "I go back and
forth between thinking Trump is a cynical asshole" like former President
Richard Nixon "who wouldn't be that bad... or that he's America's
Hitler."
Vance, who claims to be a champion of working people and
against elites, is a former venture capitalist whose 2022 Senate campaign
was backed by billionaires and who has ties to Big Pharma.
He opposes reproductive and LGBTQ+ rights.
He has complained about high gas prices while raking in Big
Oil campaign contributions. He says that Project 2025 —a conservative
coalition's agenda for a far-right takeover of the federal government—has some
"good ideas" in it.
He has fundraised for January 6 insurrectionists.
He blamed the Robb Elementary School massacre in Uvalde, Texas on
"fatherlessness." He wants to ban pornography.
"As Trump's running mate, Vance will make it his
mission to enact Trump's Project 2025 agenda at the expense of American
families," Jen O'Malley Dillion, chair of the Biden-Harris reelection
campaign, said in response to Trump's pick. "This is someone who supports
banning abortion nationwide while criticizing exceptions for rape and incest
survivors; railed against the Affordable Care Act, including its protections
for millions with preexisting conditions; and has admitted he wouldn't have
certified the free and fair election in 2020."
"Billionaires and corporations are literally rooting
for JD Vance: They know he and Trump will cut their taxes and send prices
skyrocketing for everyone else," she added.
The Democratic National Committee (DNC) responded to Vance's
selection in a statement asserting that "this is the most consequential
election of our lifetimes, and with Donald Trump's decision today to add JD
Vance to the Republican ticket, the stakes of this election just got even
higher."
"JD Vance embodies MAGA—with an out-of-touch extreme
agenda and plans to help Trump force his Project 2025 agenda on the American
people," the DNC continued.
"Vance has championed and enabled Trump's worst
policies for years—from a national abortion ban, to whitewashing January 6, to
railing against Social Security and Medicare."
"Let's be clear. A Trump-Vance ticket would undermine
our democracy, our freedoms, and our future," the DNC added.
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