On Monday, former President Donald Trump, the Republican presidential candidate, chose J.D. Vance, a 39-year-old hardline conservative U.S. Senator, as his vice-presidential candidate.
Vance is the youngest vice-presidential candidate since 1952 and is a prominent “pro-Trump” senator in Congress. His views align with Trump’s on issues such as illegal immigration, the early ending of the war in Ukraine, downplaying climate change, and letting states decide on abortion. He is often referred to as a “Trump avatar.”
Vance enlisted in the Marine Corps and was deployed to Iraq. Afterward, he attended Ohio State University and graduated from Yale Law School in 2013. Following his time as a venture capitalist in Silicon Valley, he gained nationwide fame in 2016 with his autobiography Hillbilly Elegy.
This autobiography delves into the social and economic challenges of the author’s hometown in Ohio, a part of the Rust Belt known for its declining industrial base. It also explores why Donald Trump is popular among poor white Americans. The author, Vance, experienced a turbulent childhood marked by his parents’ divorce and his mother’s struggles with drug addiction and frequent changes in partners.
Primarily, Vance’s popularity increased significantly when his biography was made into a movie.
Initially active as a Republican member in 2016, Vance was a strong critic of Trump, even referring to him as “America’s Hitler.” However, by 2018, Vance began to support Trump and joined in on Trump’s election fraud claims in 2020. In 2021, Vance visited Trump to apologize for his previous remarks.
After being elected to the Senate in November 2022, he propagated Trump’s America First agenda to the residents of the contested Rust Belt states. Trump seems to be trying to capture the Rust Belt vote through Vance.
President Joe Biden downplayed Vance as a clone of Trump. Speaking with reporters, he said, “When it comes to current issues, he’s a clone of Trump. I see no difference at all.”
Furthermore, Biden criticized Vance on the social media platform X, stating, “Vance talks about the working class, but now he wants to proceed with tax cuts for the rich and tax increases for the middle class along with Trump.”
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