Donald Trump names JD Vance as Republican running mate in US election
Ohio Senator JD Vance has been announced as the former president's choice for his running mate in the US election, ITV News US Correspondent Dan Rivers reports
Donald Trump has been formally nominated as the Republican candidate and announced JD Vance will be his choice for vice president should he be re-elected as President in the 2024 US election.
Trump has been the presumptive nominee for months, but votes from the Republican National Convention delegates made him the official nominee in Milwaukee on Monday.
The Republican candidate made the announcement on social media site Truth Social, posting: “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 JD Vance of the Great State of Ohio.”
Ohio Senator Vance, 39, rose to national fame with the 2016 publication of his memoir, 'Hillbilly Elegy' and will run on the ticket alongside the former president in October.
He was elected to the Senate in 2022 and sworn into the chamber in January 2023, giving him less than two years in Congress.
With the US presidential election set for 5 November, Trump has less than four months to strengthen the profile of Vance, who is barely known among many Republicans even in the swing states Trump hopes he’ll deliver.
Michigan Republican Party Chairman Pete Hoekstra offered a blunt response when asked about Trump's pick minutes after it was announced: “We don't know him.”
"If he’s from Ohio, he understands our state and the other northern battlegrounds... But we haven’t had a chance to take his measure yet," he added.
“I’m not sure he helps him in the campaign," said veteran Republican pollster Neil Newhouse, suggesting Vance may be better positioned to help Trump enact his agenda on Capitol Hill if given the chance. “He's not that well-known even in Ohio... This isn't a campaign pick. It's a policy pick, a governing pick.”
Republican strategist Kellyanne Conway, who served as Trump’s chief counsellor while in the White House, had encouraged Trump to pick a different running mate in the weeks leading up to his announcement. Privately, she believed that Florida Senator Marco Rubio or Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin would be better placed to help Trump win.
Recent polling confirms the notion that most voters don't know Vance. According to a CNN poll conducted in late June, just 13% of registered voters said they had a favourable opinion of the senator, compared to 20% viewing him unfavourably. The majority said they hadn't heard of him or had no opinion.
Already, foes of Trump, both in the Democratic and Republican party, are working to fill the void by seizing on Vance’s inexperience in government, his nationalist views and his critical comments about Trump himself.
During the early stages of Trump’s political career, Vance cast Trump as “a total fraud,” “a moral disaster” and “America’s Hitler".
However, Vance has since become one of the staunchest champions of the former president’s “Make America Great Again” (MAGA) agenda, particularly on trade, foreign policy and immigration.
His selection comes days after an assassination attempt against Trump.
On Saturday, Trump's choice looked to hold more gravity than before after a bullet tore through the former president's ear after a gunman opened fire during a campaign rally in Pennsylvania.
Of the incident, Trump said: “I’m not supposed to be here, I’m supposed to be dead."
Trump has repeatedly claimed that choosing someone who was qualified to take over as commander-in-chief was his top consideration for the role.
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