Who is JD Vance? The ‘never Trumper’ who is now Republican vice-president pick
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James David Vance grew up in poverty but rose to become a senator for Ohio.
On the way he became a US marine, had a book turned into a Netflix movie and now may secure one of the top jobs in US politics – despite having not yet been a Senator for two years.
Vance also went from being one of Trump’s fiercest critics to becoming one of his most ardent supporters, making him an unusual addition to Trump’s inner circle.
At the age of 39 he will also offer Republicans a millennial face to complement the older man at the top of the ticket.
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The Republicans nominee president and nominee vice-president. Pic: Reuters
From humble beginnings to a Netflix movie
Mr Vance was born into an impoverished household in southern Ohio.
After serving in the Marine Corps, he went to Yale Law School, and even became a venture capitalist in San Francisco.
He initially rose to prominence with his book Hillbilly Elegy which explored the socioeconomic problems confronting his hometown, as he tried to explain Trump’s popularity to readers.
The book was called “one of the six best books to help understand Trump’s win”, by The New York Times, and it was later made into a Netflix movie starring Amy Adams and Glenn Close.
Once a ‘never Trumper’…
Mr Vance once described himself as a “never Trumper” and in private even compared the ex-president to Hitler.
He was harshly critical of Trump in 2016 and during the opening stages of his 2017-2021 term.
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“I go back and forth between thinking Trump is a cynical asshole like Nixon who wouldn’t be that bad (and might even prove useful) or that he’s America’s Hitler,” Mr Vance wrote privately to an associate on Facebook in 2016.
When his Hitler comment was first reported, in 2022, a spokesperson did not dispute it, but said it no longer represented Vance’s views.
Supporters hold signs for Donald Trump. Pic: Reuters
From critic to stalwart supporter
However, Mr Vance has since U-turned into being a reliable Trump supporter.
Before he developed a relationship with the former president, he is said to have grown close to Trump’s eldest son, Donald Trump Jr.
By the time Mr Vance ran for the Senate in 2022 his demonstrations of loyalty – which included downplaying the 6 Jan Capitol riots – were sufficient to score Trump’s coveted endorsement.
Trump’s support helped put him over the top in a competitive primary.
In interviews Vance has said that there was no ‘Eureka’ moment that changed his mind on Trump.
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Substance over style
Instead, he claimed to have gradually realised that his opposition to Trump was rooted in style over substance.
He agreed with Trump’s contentions that free trade had hollowed out middle America and that political leaders were too interventionist in conflict abroad.
“I allowed myself to focus so much on the stylistic element of Trump that I completely ignored the way in which he substantively was offering something very different on foreign policy, on trade, on immigration,” Vance previously told the New York Times.
In the same interview, Vance said that he met Trump in 2021 and the two grew closer during his Senate campaign.
While Democrats and even some Republicans have questioned whether Mr Vance is driven more by opportunism than ideology, Trump and many advisers see his transformation as genuine.
His help in convincing wealthy donors to open their wallets to Trump hasn’t hurt his standing either, Reuters reports, and off the campaign trail some of Trump’s highest-profile allies are firm believers in Mr Vance.
