J.D. Vance: From outspoken critic to Trump's VP pick
J.D. Vance is a political newcomer who has rapidly become one of the leading figures in Donald Trump's camp. According to election forecasts, he is set to become the new vice-president-elect. Not long ago, he criticized the former president and currently criticizes U.S. support for Ukraine. In 2022, he stated in an interview, "I really don't care what happens to Ukraine."
7:34 AM EST, November 6, 2024
In just two years in the Senate, Vance has made a name for himself as a populist and an admirer of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban. Before becoming known as a potential Trump successor, he gained fame as the author of the bestseller "Hillbilly Elegy," published shortly before the 2016 presidential election.
Who is J.D. Vance?
James David Vance, then still a financier without declared political ambitions, wrote about his upbringing in a poor coal mining area in Kentucky and his escape from the surrounding hopelessness. After Trump's election, it was presented as an explanation for the populist billionaire's popularity.
Back then, Vance had not yet embraced Trump's influence: he claimed he didn't like him, describing Trump as "cultural heroin" for impoverished Americans and a potential "American Hitler."
A leading advocate of "Trumpism"
Today, the 40-year-old senator from Ohio—one of the youngest vice-presidential candidates in U.S. history—is a leading advocate of Trumpism. In an interview with Fox News, his first since being named the vice-presidential candidate, he admitted to having said "bad things" about Trump but assured that he was wrong and praised Trump's achievements.
“By choosing Vance, Trump came as close as he could to choosing himself," commented conservative columnist Jim Geraghty in the "Washington Post." Other commentators have noted that Trump's choice cements the dominance of Trumpism in the Republican Party and reflects his confidence in his electoral prospects.
Trump's risk was thought to be Vance's views on abortion. In 2019, Vance converted to Catholicism and became one of the staunchest opponents of abortion. However, he has recently softened his stance to align with Trump's position that the matter should be left to the states.
Vance is one of the most radical critics of globalization, free trade, and large corporations, while being a populist who advocates for state assistance, protectionism, and family-friendly policies. Presenting Vance at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Ohio's Senate candidate Bernie Moreno emphasized that just like Trump, he would care for the "forgotten Americans."
"For J.D. Vance, 'America First' is not just a slogan; it's his North Star. (...) He knows what it means to live in poverty, to be forgotten by politicians in Washington. He will make sure no American is forgotten," Moreno assured.
Even more than his economic views, Vance differs from the traditional party establishment on foreign policy issues. Although he is a hawk regarding China and Iran, his stance on Russia is notably different.
In less than two years in the Senate, Vance has become known as one of the biggest opponents of aiding Ukraine. In an interview with former Trump advisor Steve Bannon, he stated that he doesn't care what happens to Ukraine and mocked that for the money the U.S. has sent, "ministers of (Ukrainian President Volodymyr) Zelensky are buying themselves yachts." He also repeated a slogan often used by Kremlin propaganda that U.S. rulers "want to fight Russia to the last Ukrainian."
Controversial statements about Ukraine
During one of the briefings before the Senate vote on the aid package for Ukraine, Vance told PAP that he did not want Putin to win but that it was more important for him to protect the U.S. borders than Ukraine's. In an interview with Fox News, he stated that the U.S. should bring the war to an end as soon as possible "so they can focus on the real problem, China."
In 2022, he told Steve Bannon in an interview, "I have to be honest with you, I really don't care what happens to Ukraine."
In February 2024, when Vance appeared for the first time at the Munich Security Conference, he told Politico that the U.S. needed to reassess its support for Ukraine and left the meeting with the Ukrainian delegation and other senators.
Like Trump and other politicians from his camp, Vance is also a supporter of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban. He has praised the Hungarian government's decisions regarding ideological changes in universities and claimed that the U.S. can learn a lot from Budapest.
source: PAP / Politico
