From critic to candidate: JD Vance is Trump’s vice president. He is entering the most important political race in the United States with a lot of rhetorical skill – and allies with deep pockets.
Venture capitalist, celebrated author, senator – and soon to be Vice President of the United States? JD Vance is running for the White House as Donald Trump’s “running mate”. This is unusual not only because of his short and steep political career, but also because he once had nothing good to say about his new boss.
Vance was born in 1984 as James Donald Bowman in the US state of Ohio. He studied law at the elite American university Yale and later worked as a venture capitalist in places such as California’s Silicon Valley. In 2016, he celebrated success with his memoir “Hillbilly Elegy”. The bestseller, which was also made into a film, provides insight into a class that helped make Trump’s election victory possible.
At the beginning of his presidency, Vance was an outspoken critic, calling Trump “dangerous.” However, this opinion had changed when he himself stepped into the political spotlight six years later – and courted Trump as a supporter.
Since his victory in the 2022 congressional elections, he has represented his home state of Ohio in the Senate, where he is pursuing a populist-nationalist agenda as a supporter of the Republican right. Vance may also owe his electoral success to extremely generous donors whom he knows from his time on the West Coast.
If he wins in November, Vance would be one of the youngest vice presidents in US history at the age of 40. Because of his good connections in the financial world on the one hand and his rhetorical strengths on the other, he is considered a promising partner in the election campaign.
Vance made it clear what tone he could take after the Trump assassination last weekend: Instead of calling for unity in the country like other politicians, he blamed US President Biden personally for the attack. On Platform X, Vance wrote that the Democrat’s election campaign was completely focused on portraying Trump as an authoritarian fascist who must be stopped at all costs. US media are therefore already calling Vance a “bulldog”, i.e. a vice president who will jump into the breach for Trump – come what may.
Source: Stern
I have been working in the news industry for over 6 years, first as a reporter and now as an editor. I have covered politics extensively, and my work has appeared in major newspapers and online news outlets around the world. In addition to my writing, I also contribute regularly to 24 Hours World.
