Former Illinois House Minority Leader Jim Durkin is sharing his thoughts on the nomination of Ohio Sen. JD Vance as former President Donald Trump’s running mate, and on how the former president should proceed after this weekend’s horrific shooting.
Former Illinois House Minority Leader Jim Durkin is sharing his thoughts on the nomination of Ohio Sen. JD Vance as former President Donald Trump’s running mate, and on how the former president should proceed after this weekend’s horrific shooting.
Trump will address the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee this week, and Durkin says it gives him an opportunity to reset the national narrative and to push the political discourse of the country in a more positive direction.
“The most important thing President Trump can do is stand up and say ‘let’s hit the reset button.’ The rhetoric and actions of people over the past years have contributed to the violence we’ve seen on a regular basis. It’s becoming commonplace,” he said. “This is not the way we should be advancing the issues and the candidates. It should be about issues. It should be about organizing your people. Right now it’s about destruction, and breaking down the opponent, and it’s just wrong.”
Durkin has been a critic of Trump’s, and has continued to push for bipartisan governance at the state and federal level. He served in the Illinois House from 2006 to 2023, opting not to seek reelection. He was named the Illinois House Minority Leader in 2013, and was replaced by Rep. Tony McCombie after the 2022 election cycle.
The former Republican lawmaker says that the decision to nominate Vance will have a temporary effect on the party, but that ultimately the decision will come down to Trump vs. President Joe Biden.
“I think he’s going to be a very good functionary for Donald Trump. He speaks the party line, comes from a state that’s in play, but at the end of the day, it’s going to be Donald Trump or President Biden,” he said. “This is going to be excitement at the convention and certain areas of the Rust Belt for a little bit, but soon enough we’ll get back to Donald Trump vs. presumably Joe Biden.”
Vance and Trump are expected to address the Republican National Convention this week.
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