find out who JD Vance is, Trump’s vice president

Former US President Donald Trump has announced Ohio Senator JD Vance as his running mate in the 2024 presidential election. The announcement, made during the opening of the Republican National Convention on Monday (15.Jul.2024), came two days after Trump was the target of an assassination attempt.

By choosing Vance, 39, Trump is seeking to bridge the generation gap on the ticket and appeal to a younger electorate. The strategy is especially relevant given criticism of likely Democratic nominee Joe Biden, 81, about his ability to serve a second term in the White House if reelected.

J.D. Vance entered the U.S. Senate in 2023. Initially a critic of Trump, Vance has come to support the former president’s policies and narratives, including the controversial allegations of voter fraud in the 2020 election. This change in stance secured Vance Trump’s support in his Senate campaign, resulting in his election.

Before entering politics, Vance gained notoriety as the author of the autobiographical book “Hillbilly Elegy”published in 2016, the same year Trump was elected. The work was turned into a film by Netflix, under the title “Once upon a Dream”, released in 2020, starring Amy Adams and Glenn Close.

Both the book and the film tell the senator’s personal story: born in Middletown, Ohio, Vance spent part of his childhood in Jackson, Kentucky, being raised by his maternal grandparents while his mother struggled with drug addiction. The works portray the American working class in a dark light, describing situations of poverty in these communities.

During the 2016 campaign, Vance was highly critical of Trump, calling him a “cultural heroine” and accusing him of “take the white working class to a very dark place”. Vance called himself “one guy against Trump”. However, in deciding to run for Senate in 2022, he has repositioned himself as a staunch supporter of Trump. He has apologized for his past criticisms, embraced Trump’s hardline stances on immigration and other issues, and received the former president’s endorsement.

Vance’s selection reinforces Trump’s strategy to consolidate support from the Republican base and counter criticism of the aging of presidential candidates by offering a younger alternative to the electorate.