Meet Trump’s VP, ‘Hillbilly’ J.D. Vance, Once His Fierce Critic

Following months of speculation, former President Donald Trump revealed his pick for vice president shortly after the Republican National Convention began in Milwaukee on Monday.

Early reports confirmed that neither Governor of North Dakota Doug Burgum nor Senator Marco Rubio would be the choice. It was Ohio Senator J.D. Vance who emerged as Trump’s pick. Mike Pence, the previous vice president, has refused to endorse Trump, who is now a convicted felon.

Announcing the news on Truth Social, Trump wrote: “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.”

Though Vance was often considered a likely pick, the choice of such a far-right, often incendiary figure comes as a surprise. This is especially so after Trump had expressed his wishes of focusing on “unity” following the assassination attempt against him on Saturday.

Senator Vance first gained prominence in 2016 with the release of his New York Times bestselling memoir, Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis. In the book, he details his childhood experiences growing up in Appalachia after his family moved from Ohio to Kentucky, highlighting struggles with poverty and his mother’s drug addiction.

At the time, the memoir faced criticism for its portrayal of Appalachia. Critics argued Vance unfairly emphasized that the economic challenges plaguing the region were the residents’ fault, discounting the systemic disadvantages historically stemming from Republican policies that favor the wealthy.

The book was later adapted into an Oscar-nominated film featuring Amy Adams, Glenn Close, Gabriel Basso, and Freida Pinto. Despite its 25% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, the film spotlights Vance’s journey from Appalachia to success. After high school, he enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps, later attended Ohio State University, and graduated in 2009 before attending Yale Law School. He worked in investment banking for several years before launching his first campaign for public office in July 2021. Vance won and was sworn in as a senator on January 3, 2023.

Vance has a complicated history on both political sides. In 2017, he became a CNN contributor and was widely seen as a Republican who could offer insights to liberals on the mentality of right-wing voters in middle America. However, he was once a critic of Trump, calling him an “idiot” and reportedly comparing him to Adolf Hitler.

Writing for The Atlantic in 2016, Vance compared Trump to an opioid, describing him as “an easy escape from the pain.” He said, “To many, Donald Trump feels good, but he can’t fix America’s growing social and cultural crisis, and the eventual comedown will be harsh.”

Nevertheless, Vance has since pivoted sharply to the far-right, bewildering many former colleagues and acquaintances. He has also scrubbed much of his past criticisms of Trump from social media. Vance has made several controversial statements, including a joke about the accidental shooting involving Alec Baldwin on the set of Rust and derogatory comments about victims of domestic abuse.

On a personal note, Vance met his wife, Usha Chilukuri Vance, while attending law school. They formed a discussion group focusing on the “social decline in white America.” The couple married in 2014. Usha, who was portrayed by Freida Pinto in Hillbilly Elegy, grew up in San Diego and works as a civil litigator. She worked for law firm Munger, Tolles & Olson and had a brief stint as a law clerk for the Supreme Court before returning to the firm.

Vance and his wife maintain a largely private personal life and share three children: sons Ewan, born in 2017, and Vivek, born in 2020, and daughter Mirabel, born in December 2021.

Source: various sources