MILWAUKEE (AP) — Former President Donald Trump chose Sen. JD Vance of Ohio as his running mate on Monday (July 15, 2024), picking a onetime critic who became a loyal ally and is now the first millennial to join a major-party ticket at a time of deep concern about the advanced age of America’s political leaders.
“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 in a post on his Truth Social network as the Republican National Convention got underway in Milwaukee.
The 39-year-old Vance rose to national fame with the 2016 publication of his memoir, “Hillbilly Elegy.” He was elected to the Senate in 2022 and has become one of the staunchest champions of the former president’s “Make America Great Again” agenda, particularly on trade, foreign policy and immigration.
But he is largely untested in national politics and is joining the Trump ticket at an extraordinary moment. An attempted assassination of Trump at a rally Saturday has shaken the campaign, bringing new attention to the nation’s coarse political rhetoric and reinforcing the importance of those who are one heartbeat away from the presidency.
Vance himself faced criticism in the wake of the shooting for a post on X that suggested President Joe Biden was to blame for the 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. “That rhetoric led directly to President Trump’s attempted assassination.”
Law enforcement has not yet specified a motivation for the shooting.
MIAMI (AP) — Former President Donald Trump is getting back on the campaign trail Tuesday (July 9, 2024), rallying voters in his home state at his flagship golf resort in a celebratory mood as Democrats face tough calls over President Joe Biden’s reelection chances.
Trump is nearing a deadline to announce his running mate but appears in no rush as much of the attention is still centered on questions about Biden’s ability to govern for another four-year term. Some Democrats have started calling for Biden to step down as their presumptive nominee following his dismal debate performance last month.
Both Biden, 81, and Trump, 78, are at least two decades older than most American presidents have been, according to the Pew Research Center, which said the median age for all U.S. presidents on their first inauguration is 55 years old. But that has not stopped Trump from arguing he is stronger than Biden, who repeatedly stumbled, paused and could not complete sentences at times during the June 27 debate. Trump was criticized by Democrats for making false statements during the debate about the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol and suggesting immigrants entering the U.S. illegally were taking so-called “Black jobs” and “Hispanic jobs.”
In an interview Monday with Fox News Channel’s Sean Hannity, Trump said he thought Biden “might very well stay in” the race. “Nobody to wants to give that up that way,” Trump added. “He is going to feel badly about himself for a long time. It’s hard to give it up that way, the way where they’re trying to force him out.”
In the Miami suburb of Doral, Trump will underscore his strong support in a former battleground state that has now shifted toward the GOP. U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, a Miami native and one of the contenders for the vice presidential post, will be attending the rally along with other Florida politicians.
Kevin Cabrera, a Miami-Dade County commissioner who was Florida state director for Trump’s 2020 reelection campaign and is set to speak at the rally, said to expect an “overwhelming show of unity.”
“The rally will display our unified front, showcasing a stark contrast to the Democrats, who are lost and fighting with each other over Biden’s health and ability to continue,” Cabrera said.
The presumptive GOP nominee will also touch on Biden’s handling of immigration and the economy, highlighting the rise in home prices and goods. Trump will also talk about how Florida is affected by the increasing arrivals of immigrants as the final destination for many people illegally crossing the U.S.-Mexico border.
The leadership crisis among Democrats has perhaps given Trump a reason to wait for his VP announcement so as to not draw attention away from Biden’s woes. Senior advisers and key allies say they still don’t know whom Trump will choose as his running mate, and many believe the choice is still in flux.
Speaking on MSNBC Monday, Biden criticized Trump for not having held events since the debate and suggested he had been “riding around in his golf cart.”
NEW YORK (AP) — The future Republican vice presidential candidate’s plane is currently parked in an undisclosed hangar, an empty spot on its fuselage for where a decal featuring his or her name will soon be placed.
Fundraisers have been planned.
All that’s left: an announcement from former President Donald Trump on who’s his pick.
Senior advisers and longtime allies insist they still don’t know who the presumptive GOP nominee will choose to join him on the ticket — with many believing the choice is still in flux.
The decision will come at an unprecedented time of upheaval in the presidential race. President Joe Biden and the Democratic Party continue to grapple with his dismal debate performance and the intensifying calls for the 81-year-old president to step aside in favor of a younger candidate.
The Democrats’ crisis has given Trump little incentive to change the subject with a VP announcement that would be sure to draw a flurry of attention and focus to his pick.
But Trump will have plenty of opportunities this week to ratchet up the speculation about a process that his team has kept extraordinarily close to the vest.
Opportunities to announce
Trump has two rallies planned. The first is scheduled for Tuesday evening at his golf club in Doral, Florida, near Miami. The primetime scheduling and location would seem to provide an ideal opportunity to unveil his pick if it is Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, a Miami native who is one of his top contenders.
On Saturday he’ll travel to the critical battleground state of Pennsylvania for an afternoon rally at the Butler Farm Show. The venue, outside of Pittsburgh, is not far from the border of Ohio, which is home to Sen. JD Vance, another potential pick.
Also said to be on Trump’s short list is North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, who has grown close to the former president since he dropped his own bid for the nomination before voting began.
Trump doesn’t need a rally to unveil his pick. He could simply announce the news on his Truth Social platform at any moment between now and the Republican National Convention, which kicks off in Milwaukee on July 15. Or he could wait until the convention opens to make a grand, on-stage curtain reveal reminiscent of his days as the host of the “The Apprentice” reality TV show.
Trump has repeatedly said he intends to unveil his pick just before or during the convention. But he has been coy about his choice.
Late last month, before the debate, Trump told NBC News at a campaign stop in Philadelphia that he’d already made a decision.
“In my mind, yeah,” he said.
But less than a week later, he told a local Virginia television station that his decision was still in flux.
“Well I have people in mind. I have so many good people. We have such a deep bench,” he said. “But we’ll be making a decision sometime early convention or before convention.”
The front-runners say they don’t know yet
“As President Trump has said himself, the top criteria in selecting a Vice President is a strong leader who could make a great President,” Trump adviser Brian Hughes said in a statement he has issued repeatedly. “But anyone telling you they know who or when President Trump will choose his VP is lying unless that person is named Donald J. Trump.”
That includes the front-runners for the job.
On CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday, Rubio said he remained in the dark.
“Look, I’ve heard nothing, I know nothing, and you probably know more than I do about it,” he said. “Donald Trump has a decision to make. He’ll make it when he needs to make it. He’ll make a good decision. I know for certain that I will be out there over the next three or four months, working on behalf of his campaign in some capacity.”
He also dismissed questions about whether he has discussed changing his residence from Florida if he’s chosen as “presumptuous.” The Constitution bars the president and vice president from hailing from the same state.
“We’ll confront those issues when they come,” he said. “But we’re not there yet. But we will be soon, one way or the other.”
On NBC’s “Meet the Press,” Vance, too, said he has not received news one way or the other: “I have not gotten the call.”
“But most importantly,” he went on, ”we’re just trying to work to elect Donald Trump. Whoever his vice president is — he’s got a lot of good people he could choose from — it’s the policies that worked and the leadership style that worked for the American people. I think we have to bring that back to the White House, and I’m fighting to try to do that.”
A top ally is still pushing for Tim Scott
On CBS’s “Face the Nation,” Sen. Lindsey Graham, a longtime Trump ally, continued to push for his fellow South Carolinian, Sen. Tim Scott, the only Black Republican in the Senate.
“I don’t think he’s decided,” he said, again making his case for Scott, who he said would be a particularly smart choice if Biden were to be replaced at the top of the ticket by Vice President Kamala Harris, the first Black woman and person of South Asian descent to serve in the office.
If Harris is picked, Graham said, “This is a dramatically different race than it is right now today. I hope people are thinking about that on our side.”
Biden has insisted he won’t drop out and said only “ the Lord Almighty ” could get him to change his mind.
Graham commended Trump’s other choices at the same time. He called Burgum “solid as a rock” and said Vance “could be a good wingman,” but questioned whether the Republican firebrand — who was once a vocal Trump critic but is now one of his fiercest defenders in the Senate — could bring in new states.
Rubio, he noted, has the issue of his residency to contend with, but called him a “very articulate conservative” who could help Trump “enormously.” Rubio, the son of Cuban immigrants, also speaks Spanish.
“If I were President Trump, I would make sure I pick somebody that could add value in 2024. Expand the map,” Graham said.
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