Michiganders react to Ohio’s JD Vance as Trump’s vice presidential pick
JD Vance is nominated for the post of Republican Vice President
Senator JD Vance (Ohio) and his wife Usha Chilukuri Vance listen as Vance is nominated for the Republican vice presidential nomination during the RNC in Milwaukee on July 15, 2024.
Republicans in the state of Michigan on Monday afternoon heaped praise on the nomination of U.S. Senator JD Vance of Ohio as former President Donald Trump’s vice presidential candidate for this year’s election.
“Vice President JD Vance! A son of the Midwest, he will do a lot of good for Michigan and help win Michigan for Trump Vance in November!” Michigan Republican Party Chairman Pete Hoekstra said on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter.
“Senator JD Vance will be a great vice president, and President Trump’s selection of him as his running mate is another sign that he is committed to helping middle-class Americans achieve the American dream,” said former U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Brighton), Trump’s Republican nominee for Michigan’s vacant U.S. Senate seat.
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Pointing to Vance’s humble beginnings in southern Ohio, which he recounts in his 2016 book “Hillbilly Elegy,” a best-selling memoir, Rogers said the vice president-elect knows “firsthand what the high costs of food, gas and rent do to a working family struggling to survive.” Vance, who served as a Marine and studied law at Yale before winning a seat in the U.S. Senate two years ago, is 39.
Announcing his choice on the Truth Social platform on the first day of the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Trump said Vance would “focus heavily on the people he fought so brilliantly for, the American workers and farmers in Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, Ohio, Minnesota and far beyond.” Vance is the third Republican vice presidential candidate in the last four elections to represent the Midwest, following then-US Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin in 2012 and former Vice President Mike Pence of Indiana in 2016 and 2020.
Other Michigan Republicans also praised Vance’s selection, including Republican U.S. Rep. Jack Bergman of Watersmeet, who said, “JD is a fellow U.S. Marine and has been a solid fighter in the Senate since taking office. … Our party is united and we are ready to win a big victory in November.”
Republican U.S. Rep. John James of Shelby Township, who was scheduled to speak at the convention Monday night, said he was “thrilled by the news.” “My friend JD is a staunch conservative who will fight with President Trump to address the problems that make Michiganders worse off under Joe Biden,” James said.
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“Congratulations to JD Vance for putting himself on Trump’s list,” added Republican U.S. Rep. Tim Walberg of Tipton on X. “JD is a fighter, a veteran, and understands the concerns of Michigan, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Wisconsin. Together, we will make America great again!”
Democrats immediately criticized the choice. Jen O’Malley Dillon, chair of the Biden-Harris 2024 Club, claimed Trump chose Vance because he will “make every effort to support Trump and his extreme MAGA (Make America Great Again) agenda, even if it means breaking the law and regardless of the harm to the American people.” He also said he supports sweeping conservative changes to the federal bureaucracy and a national ban on abortion. However, Vance has said last year that Republicans need to “accept that people don’t want blanket bans on abortion.” He has also said he supports access to abortion medication.
“Trump has only ever surrounded himself with extremists who share his far-right agenda, and JD Vance is certainly no different,” said Lavora Barnes, chair of the Michigan Democratic Party. “As the junior senator from Ohio, Vance has shown that he cares nothing but pushing rhetoric and policies to gain full control of our bodies, our economy and our democracy. Ultimately, Trump’s choice of Vance as his running mate underscores how important it is that we re-elect President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris.”
USA TODAY said Vance “embodies the so-called New Right,” which rejects some traditional Republican viewpoints such as fully free-market economics. Like Trump, whom he once criticized, he espouses populist positions, favoring tariffs on certain imports and calling for the U.S. to withdraw from certain foreign conflicts, including the war between Russia and Ukraine. Vance also opposed cuts to Social Security.
Vance, who turns 40 early next month, was also criticized by some for his immediate response to the attempted assassination of Trump at a rally in Pennsylvania on Saturday, when he blamed it on Biden. “Today is not an isolated incident,” Vance wrote on X. “The central premise of the Biden campaign is that President Donald Trump is an authoritarian fascist who must be stopped at all costs. This rhetoric led directly to the attempted assassination of President Trump.”
Contact Todd Spangler: [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter@tsspangler.
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