Trump selects Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance as his running mate

CNN —

Donald Trump has named US Sen. J.D. Vance as his running mate, further elevating the Ohio Republican who has adopted the former president’s populist agenda after years of pointed criticism of Trump.

“After lengthy deliberation and thought, and considering the tremendous talents of many others, I have decided that the person best suited to assume the position of Vice President of the United States is Senator J.D. Vance of the Great State of Ohio,” Trump said on his Truth Social platform.

Trump’s selection came on the first day of the Republican National Convention and just two days after he survived an assassination attempt at his campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, over the weekend. Vance met with Trump at his Mar-a-Lago club on Saturday before the rally, a source familiar with the meeting told CNN.

Vance, a venture capitalist and the author of the best-selling memoir “Hillbilly Elegy,” was elected to the Senate in 2022 after receiving a boost from Trump in a contentious Republican primary.

It was a reversal from just six years earlier. Vance was a key voice in the “Never Trump” movement during the 2016 election and has a well-documented history of opposing the former president publicly.

CNN previously reported that Vance liked tweets in 2016 and 2017 that harshly criticized Trump and his policies — including one speculating that Vance could serve in a Hillary Clinton administration.

But he earned Trump’s endorsement in the 2022 Ohio Republican Senate primary after a concerted yearlong effort by Vance to embrace a new image as a leading MAGA proponent, courting the former president at meetings in Mar-a-Lago and through appearances on Fox News.

In a display of loyalty, Vance was one of several