When then-candidate Donald Trump announced that Mike Pence would be his running mate in 2016, the rationale was clear. Pence, a Midwestern former governor known for his love of Jesus and free markets, would lend credibility with religious voters and traditional conservatives to the otherwise unorthodox nominee. The choice was meant to shore up support among a constituency seen at the time as not yet sold on the former real estate mogul and reality TV star.
The former president's pick of Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance in 2024 reflects the sad reality that none of those considerations are relevant any longer. Rather than trying to "balance out" his ticket, Trump is doubling down, selecting a fire-breathing populist with clear authoritarian tendencies, a soft spot for progressive economics, and a connection to the working class.
Vance emerged on the scene in 2016 with the publication of his best-selling memoir, Hillbilly Elegy. He was initially a fierce critic of Trump, tweeting that the then–presidential candidate "makes people I care about afraid. Immigrants, Muslims, etc. Because of this I find him reprehensible." Responding to the Access Hollywood tape, he lamented, "Fellow Christians, everyone is watching us when we apologize for this man."
But Vance would later delete those tweets and others critical of the 45th president while bidding for Trump's endorsement in the 2022 Ohio Senate primary. He eventually received that endorsement, allowing him to secure the GOP nomination and later the race.
Vance was seen by many as the likeliest veep choice, in part because his "America First" economic and foreign policy leanings are assumed to appeal to blue-collar voters in the swing states that have determined the last couple of presidential elections. In a post on Truth Social announcing the pick, Trump explicitly declared that his running mate would be "strongly focused on the people he fought so brilliantly for, the American Workers and Farmers in Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, Ohio, Minnesota, and far beyond."
Notably absent from that announcement was any reference to religion. Eight years ago, Pence was considered a savvy choice because of his ability to soothe any misgivings his fellow evangelical Christians might have about casting a vote for a thrice-married philanderer. Today, self-identifying "evangelicals" are among Trump's most loyal supporters.
Vance, a former U.S. Marine and graduate of Yale Law School, has a troubling history of engaging in illiberal rhetoric. He argued on the Senate campaign trail that conservatives should "seize the administrative state" and use it "for our own purposes" rather than trying to roll it back. He floated the idea that a Republican president could simply ignore court rulings he doesn't like. He called for seizing the assets of nonprofits that promote "woke" ideology and redistributing them to politically favored groups. And he told The American Conservative in 2021 that his voters "hate the right people."
When I followed up on that comment with his campaign, a spokesperson reiterated that "JD Vance strongly believes that the political, financial and Big Tech elites…deserve nothing but our scorn and hatred." But on Saturday, after a gunman shot at Trump during a rally, killing at least one bystander, Vance blamed overheated rhetoric from Democrats for the act.
"The central premise of the Biden campaign is that President Donald Trump is an authoritarian fascist who must be stopped at all costs," he tweeted. "That rhetoric led directly to President Trump's attempted assassination."
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