Trump picks political newcomer JD Vance as running mate

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Donald Trump has picked Ohio Sen. JD Vance as his vice presidential running mate, a decision that would potentially elevate a novice lawmaker to the position of the second-most powerful person in the United States. Trump announced his decision in a Truth Social post on Monday, the first day of the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee. "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. "Congratulations to Senator J.D. Vance, his wife, Usha, who also graduated from Yale Law School, and their three beautiful children. MAGA2024!" Out of the reported front-runners for the ticket, Vance, 39, has the least experience in elected office. Before he was sworn into the Senate in January 2023, the military veteran and law school graduate worked as an author and a venture capitalist. Vance sharply criticized Trump in the lead-up to the 2016 election, privately comparing him to Adolf Hitler and publicly describing him as "noxious" and "reprehensible." But Vance's 180 on the former president during his Senate campaign — and his friendship with Trump's oldest son — eventually earned him a spot in Trump's good graces. Vance openly jockeyed to be Trump's running mate. He made a slate of media appearances as a Trump surrogate, he fervently attacked witnesses in the former president's New York hush money trial, and he acted as a sort of conduit between his Silicon Valley connections and Trump. Vance said in an interview in late June that he would be disappointed if he wasn't picked to join Trump's ticket. Vance is known as one of the most MAGA-aligned Republicans in the Senate. Like the presumptive GOP nominee, he has championed an extreme brand of conservatism. As Paul Waldman wrote for MSNBC Daily last month: Two years ago, Vance said in an interview that if Trump wins he should “fire every single midlevel bureaucrat, every civil servant in the administrative state, replace them with our people” and defy the courts if they try to stop him. To change government in the way he wants, Vance said, “we’re going to have to get pretty wild and pretty far out there and go in directions that a lot of conservatives right now are uncomfortable with.” ... He has proposed that the government “seize the assets” of foundations whose agendas he objects to. Although the FBI has not yet determined the shooter’s ideology, Vance immediately blamed President Joe Biden for the attempted assassination of Trump at a campaign rally on Saturday, claiming that the president's campaign rhetoric accusing Trump of being "an authoritarian fascist who must be stopped at all costs" led to the attack. This is a developing story. Check back for updates.