Ohio U.S. Senator and vice presidential nominee J.D. Vance delivered remarks on Day 3 of the 2024 Republican National Convention Wednesday, with the 39-year-old freshman senator offering many voters their first impression of him.
Vance, who was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2022, was chosen as former President Donald Trump's running mate on Monday, selected over rumored picks such as South Carolina U.S. Senator Tim Scott and North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum.
This year's gathering is the first RNC that Vance has attended, according to a Trump campaign source who was not authorized to speak publicly. A relative political unknown, Vance rapidly morphed in recent years from a severe critic of Trump to an aggressive defender.
Vance officially accepted the nomination during his remarks Wednesday, while recalling his childhood in Middletown, Ohio and service with the United States Marine Corps.
"Never in my wildest imagination did I think I'd be standing here tonight," Vance said.
Vance spoke on his affinity for Trump's presidency and the relationship he developed with him over the past few years, avoiding mentions of any past criticism levied toward the former president.
The Ohio senator struck a populist tone in much of his speech, slamming President Biden for support of the North American Free Trade Agreement while claiming that Democratic policy has led to American labor being outsourced.
Towards the end of his speech, Vance called the RNC the beginning of what he sees in a second Trump administration.
"This is a celebration of what America once was, and with God's grace, what it will be once again," Vance said.
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Here is more information on the junior U.S. Senator from Ohio and vice presidential nominee:
Who is JD Vance?
Vance is an Ivy League graduate and a businessman, but his memoir, “Hillbilly Elegy ” explores his blue-collar roots. It made him a national name when it was published in 2016. The book is now seen as a window into some of the cultural forces that propelled Trump to the White House that year, earning Vance a reputation as someone who could help explain the maverick New York businessman’s appeal in middle America.
“Hillbilly Elegy” also introduced Vance to the Trump family. Donald Trump Jr. loved the book and knew of Vance when he went to launch his political career. The two hit it off and have remained friends.
After Donald Trump won the 2016 election, Vance returned to his native Ohio and set up an anti-opioid charity. He also took to the lecture circuit and was a favored guest at Republican Lincoln Day dinners where his personal story — including the hardship Vance endured because of his mother’s drug addiction — resonated.
Vance's appearances were opportunities to sell his ideas for fixing the country and helped lay the groundwork for entering politics in 2021, when he sought the Senate seat vacated by Republican Rob Portman, who retired.
Trump endorsed Vance. Vance went on to win a crowded Republican primary and the general election.
JD and his wife Usha Vance live in Cincinnati, and have three children: Ewan, Vivek and Mirabel.
Where does Vance stand on major issues? What about Donald Trump?
Vance was a “never Trump” Republican in 2016. He called Trump “dangerous” and “unfit” for office. Vance, whose wife, lawyer Usha Chilukuri Vance, is Indian-American, also criticized Trump’s racist rhetoric, saying he could be “America’s Hitler.”
But by the time Vance met Trump in 2021, he had reversed his opinion, citing Trump’s accomplishments as president. Both men downplayed Vance's past scathing criticism.
Once elected, Vance became a fierce Trump ally on Capitol Hill, unceasingly defending Trump’s policies and behavior.
In his first interview after accepting Trump’s offer to join the ticket, Vance sought to explain his metamorphosis. Vance said in a Fox News Channel interview Monday that Trump was a great president and changed his mind.
“I think he changed the minds of a lot of Americans, because again he delivered that peace and prosperity,” Vance said.
Kevin Roberts, president of the conservative Heritage Foundation, called Vance a leading voice for the conservative movement, on key issues including a shift away from interventionist foreign policy, free market economics and “American culture writ large.”
Democrats call him an extremist, citing provocative positions Vance has taken but sometimes later amended. Vance signaled support for a national 15-week abortion ban during his Senate run, for instance, then softened that stance once Ohio voters overwhelmingly backed a 2023 abortion rights amendment.
On the 2020 election, he said he wouldn't have certified the results immediately if he had been vice president and that Trump had “a very legitimate grievance.” He has put conditions on honoring the results of the 2024 election that echo Trump's. A litany of government and outside investigations have not found any election fraud that could have swung the outcome of Trump's 2020 loss to Democratic President Joe Biden.
In the Senate, Vance sometimes embraces bipartisanship. He and Democratic Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown co-sponsored a railway safety bill following a fiery train derailment in the Ohio village of East Palestine. He's sponsored legislation extending and increasing funding for Great Lakes restoration, and supported bipartisan legislation boosting workers and families.
