4 Things You Should Know About JD Vance, Trump's Pick For Vice President

In picking Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio) as his vice-presidential running mate, former President Donald Trump has tapped someone who just years ago was one of his most prominent conservative detractors — and is now one of his most dogged defenders on Capitol Hill and in the press.

The selection of Vance over his rivals — Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), whose involvement in a compromise immigration reform bill in 2013 has always made him suspect in the MAGA world, and North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, a wealthy tech entrepreneur favored by some Republican business elites — is sure to rev up Trump’s populist base. And Trump, who prizes fealty above all, has chosen someone he believes he can count on.

“This I know: He will faithfully stand by Donald Trump’s side as they win this election and change the course of our nation,” Ohio Lt. Gov. Jon Husted said at the Republican National Convention on Monday as he formally nominated Vance for vice president.

Vance became a household name in 2016 when he released the bestselling memoir, “Hillbilly Elegy,” which recounted his mother’s struggles with drug addiction and his path from an impoverished childhood into the U.S. Marine Corps and to Yale Law School.

The book was a hit among educated liberals following Trump’s election, both because he offered insight into the experience of low-income white voters that make up a key part of Trump’s base and because he was an impassioned critic of Trump.

He characterized Trump as “cultural heroin” for Americans in distressed communities looking for easy solutions to their problems.

“He never offers details for how these plans will work, because he can’t,” Vance wrote in The Atlantic in 2016. “Trump’s promises are the needle in America’s collective vein.”