Why was J.D. Vance chosen as Trump's running mate?
Understanding the 'Hillbilly Elegy' author's political success
After months of speculation and rumors, President Donald Trump’s announcement that he had chosen Ohio Republican Senator J.D. Vance as his running mate wasn’t a huge surprise – but it set tongues wagging regardless.
Vance, a relative newcomer to politics, has a history of being anti-Trump, and his memoir-turned-movie, Hillbilly Elegy, has offered Americans a dim pastiche of his past political inclinations…but those views have morphed considerably over time.
From his marriage to Indian-American Usha Vance – whom he met while they were both attending Yale – to his surprising and victorious senate run in 2022, Vance presents as a calm politician who is not easily ruffled.
To understand Vance, you need to understand his backstory, and the best way to do that is to read his memoir. In it, he discusses the realities of growing up in the “hillbilly” culture of Kentucky – the sharp-edged, addiction-addled empire of white poverty and failing school systems of the Appalachians.
Remarkably, Vance was able to break free from a familial cycle of generational poverty and make a name for himself in Ohio and, eventually, Silicon Valley in California. His connections to venture capitalists like Peter Thiel and David Sacks are, no doubt, the key to his political success and, one would argue, the popularity of his book and its film adaptation.
That kind of thing doesn’t just happen overnight, but Vance’s story is still impressive. He was picked as President Trump’s running mate in July, and it’s important to note that Vance just turned 40 this week.
This makes him among the youngest vice-presidential candidates in American history (history aficionados may recall that John Cabell Breckinridge was the youngest Veep at age 36 when he took office with President James Buchanan in 1857).
As someone who covered President Trump’s every move for three years, I was front and center as a viewer for Vance’s senate campaign and witnessed the president’s eager stumping efforts at multiple “Save America” rallies in the Buckeye State during the 2022 midterm elections.
I distinctly remember one rally, in April 2022, when President Trump spoke to thousands of rallygoers in Cleveland about his endorsement for Vance in the race.
“He’s a guy that’s said some bad shit about me – he did,” Trump remarked. “…But I have to do what I have to do. We have to pick somebody that can win.”
This sentiment has often appeared in Trump’s rhetoric. He’s pragmatic, and he reminded the crowd in 2022 that candidates who were in the best position to win were how you defeated impossible political opponents – and J.D. Vance had a lot to bring to the table.
Funded by mega-donors like Thiel, Vance already had the upper hand in the race. With Trump’s endorsement, he was a rocket ship. It’s no surprise that he won, especially when the president was willing to stick up for the young politician.
Trump’s embrace of Vance is interesting, considering the vitriolic nature of the VP nominee’s past remarks.
In 2016, Vance called Trump “xenophobic” during an interview on PBS News Hour. That same year, he called Trump an “idiot” in a Twitter post and told Charlie Rose during an interview, “I never liked him.”
In private text messages sent to a friend in 2017, Vance even allegedly referred to Trump as a “total fraud” and described him as “America’s Hitler,” per CNN Politics.
In a 2016 opinion piece written for The Atlantic, Vance eviscerated Trump as an “opioid of the masses.”
“To many, Donald Trump feels good, but he can’t fix America’s growing social and cultural crisis, and the eventual comedown will be harsh,” he wrote.
This is just the tip of the iceberg of Vance’s past politics, so it comes as no surprise that Ohio voters were, at first, wary about casting their vote for someone who had very negative opinions of the 45th president.
Ironically, it was that same president’s endorsement that won Vance the senate seat in Ohio – and it’s the same president, still, who has surprisingly crowned Vance as the potential heir apparent to the MAGA throne.
Why Vance was likely chosen as Trump’s running mate
Among a bevy of vice-presidential candidates over the past year, flashy figures like South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio were rumored to be in the running. In the past, I wrote that a figure like Gov. Doug Burgum (North Dakota) would be a more likely choice for Trump’s running mate because of two factors: he’s nondramatic and he’s independently wealthy.
Interestingly, it is likely the same two factors that led Trump to choose J.D. Vance as his running mate: a non-offensive presence and the ability to fundraise.
Despite a past of anti-Trump rhetoric, Vance has publicly apologized for his comments.
He told Fox News in 2021, “Like a lot of people, I criticized Trump back in 2016. And I ask folks not to judge me based on what I said in 2016, because I’ve been very open that I did say those critical things and I regret them, and I regret being wrong about the guy.”
Aside from that, Vance is a fairly calm person. As an Ohio senator, he doesn’t cause as much stir as a New York congressman or a California representative, which has allowed him to fly effectively under the media’s radar for the past two years, legislatively.
The second factor: Vance has big connections in Silicon Valley. I would guess that this may be the biggest reason Vance was chosen. Just in the past week, Vance has fundraised in Palo Alto and Coalinga, California.
In June, Trump’s historic money-making sweep from San Francisco to Newport Beach was the brainchild of Vance, who worked with David Sacks and other California power players to pull in serious cash for the president’s campaign.
And, at the end of the day, staying competitive in a campaign is about raising money – and that’s something J.D. Vance can do that few other running mates could.
Will Vance help Trump win?
The reality that we face as a nation is that there just aren’t very many good Republicans to choose from for vice president.
But J.D. Vance is a very good choice – he’s educated, he’s well-spoken, and he’s relatable because not only does he come from humble beginnings, but he – like most of us – was originally highly critical of Donald Trump and he’s not too proud to admit that he was wrong.
This self-analysis makes him likable, and it gives him a high degree of authenticity that few other politicians have. Plus, he hasn’t made the mistake of filming dental infomercials while in office (Hello, Kristi Noem) nor has he been around long enough to be considered an “establishment” politician.
He will likely pull in Middle America and Rust Belt voters – which is another reason he was probably chosen as VP – and his marriage to Usha and their cute children is an excellent show of energy, youthfulness, and diversity (which, like it or not, the Republican Party needs a LOT more of to be competitive).
J.D. Vance will not make or break the ticket, because people are voting for Trump. At this point, after years of media attacks, lawsuits, court cases, convictions, and an assassination attempt, the MAGA movement lives or dies with President Trump. This is a fact.
Vance is no Trump – not yet, anyway. Could he get there? He’s got potential. He’s incredibly intelligent. I’m impressed by what I’ve seen so far. I don’t know that he will move the needle for Trump in states like Pennsylvania or Wisconsin, but he has a better chance of doing it than somebody like Kristi Noem or Tim Scott, if only because of his Appalachian roots.
People respect an American success story – and so does President Trump – so while J.D. Vance may seem like a “safe” bet for VP, I think he could potentially represent the future of the populist movement in America.
I like J.D. and appreciate his straight forward honesty. I believe he’s an excellent choice for the Trump ticket!