Former President Donald Trump has picked Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance as his running mate the Republican 2024 ticket, he announced on Monday.
Trump made the announcement on Truth Social, saying that Vance is “the person best suited to assume the position of Vice President of the United States.”
Vance is a 39-year-old first-term senator and would be the third-youngest vice president in history — behind John Breckinridge, and Richard Nixon.
“As Vice President, J.D. will continue to fight for our Constitution, stand with our Troops, and will do everything he can to help me MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN,” Trump wrote.
President Joe Biden’s campaign released a statement on Trump’s Vice President choice, slamming Vance as someone who will further Trump’s “extreme MAGA agenda.”
“Donald Trump picked J.D. Vance as his running mate because Vance will do what Mike Pence wouldn’t on January 6: bend over backwards to enable Trump and his extreme MAGA agenda, even if it means breaking the law and no matter the harm to the American people,” Biden Campaign Chair Jen O’Malley Dillon wrote in a statement.
North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum and Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida were among the other finalists.
Vance was born in Middleton, Ohio, and served in the Marine Corps. He later attended Ohio State University and eventually graduated from Yale Law School.
“I think it’s a phenomenal pick. I think it’s exactly the right pick,” Donald Trump Jr. said in an interview minutes after his father announced he was selecting Vance.
If Trump and Vance are elected this fall, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, a Republican, will get to appoint a replacement senator after Vance resigns his seat.
