by Sharelle Burt
July 16, 2024
Oh well….back to where they started!
In a significant GOP upset, former President Donald Trump announced his vice president nominee as Ohio’s Republican Senator J.D. Vance.
Trump made the announcement on his Truth Social platform just hours into the first day of the Republican National Convention on Jul. 15.
“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.
The GOP senator met with Trump at his Mar-a-Lago club on Jul. 13 before a rally where the former President was an alleged target of a gunman.
According to the Associated Press, Vance received criticism for pushing blame on President Joe Biden for the act of violence. “The central premise of the Biden campaign is that President Donald Trump is an authoritarian fascist who must be stopped at all costs,” Vance wrote on X.
“That rhetoric led directly to President Trump’s attempted assassination.”
Days later, Vance walked onto the convention floor to Merle Haggard’s “American First” to formally receive his party’s nomination for Vice President.
The selection is different from rumors claiming Senator Tim Scott (R-SC) and Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fl.) were in the running for the job. During a Fox News town hall event in February 2024, Trump announced the two could potentially make the cut. “Honestly, all of those people are good. They’re all good. They’re all solid,” he told host Laura Ingram.
Scott and Donalds were seen alongside Vance as loyal allies during Trump’s criminal hush money trial in New York City. As the trial wrapped up, Trump whispered a potential endorsement for Donalds if he were to run for governor of Florida, allegedly telling the congressman, “He will have many friends in the race” if he does.
Scott, who pushed a failed presidential campaign against his former nemesis, continued to champion for Trump saying “we have the right candidate” in March 2024. “This is our time to stand up for what America is today, not this utopian American dream that is our nightmare,” he said.
Social media users jumped at the opportunity to poke fun at Donalds and Scott for not being selected. “Trump really made Tim Scott get married only to NOT pick him as VP,” @adamjsmith said.
Another user pointed out that both lawmakers made “interesting moves” for nothing in return. “Byron Donalds and Tim Scott did all that tap dancing, shucking, jiving, and twerking for Trump, and for what?” @notcapnamerica wrote.
Vance’s selection further pushes Trump’s populist agenda but promotes a different tone from how he viewed Trump Vance’s years prior. In 2016, the venture capitalist was a key advocate in the “Never Trump” movement and has been on public record with heavy opposition to the 45th President. Vance was seen liking a variety of tweets criticizing Trump’s policies and was once rumored to potentially serve in a Hillary Clinton administration.
After the release of his memoir, “Hillbilly Elegy,” the 39-year-old rose to national fame and then received an endorsement from Trump during the 2022 Ohio Republican Senate primary.
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