JUANA SUMMERS, HOST:
Former President Donald Trump, who is now officially the Republican nominee for president in 2024, has chosen Ohio Senator J. D. Vance to be his running mate.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
UNIDENTIFIED CROWD: (Chanting) J. D., J. D., J. D., J. D., J. D., J. D., J. D.
SUMMERS: The crowd at the RNC in Milwaukee erupted in applause when the announcement was officially made as Vance stood on the convention floor with his wife, Usha. Vance has been in the Senate less than two years. At 39 years old, he is half the age of the 78-year-old Trump. He is also a bestselling author, and his hit memoir, "Hillbilly Elegy," was made into a major motion picture. It tells Vance's story of growing up in the Appalachian region of Southern Ohio and a family struggling with poverty and drug addiction. NPR's Don Gonyea is in Milwaukee and joins me now. Hey, Don.
DON GONYEA, BYLINE: Hi there.
SUMMERS: So Don, just start by telling us what does J. D. Vance bring to the Republican ticket?
GONYEA: The feeling is he'll be a really aggressive fighter, an effective campaigner. But listen to how Donald Trump Jr. put it on the floor of the convention today. Trump Jr. was one of Vance's biggest champions during the whole selection process. Here he is talking to reporters.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
DONALD TRUMP JR: His background, his story, when you're talking about the Rust Belt, this is going to be Rush Belt election, I think. Wisconsin is going to play such a critical role in that. Michigan's going to be a critical role in that, Pennsylvania - and that's his battleground. That's his home.
GONYEA: You can hear him ticking off those battleground states. And former President Trump himself echoed that in his Truth Social post announcing his choice, citing Vance's potential appeal to working-class voters.
SUMMERS: I mean, Don, I'm thinking pretty soon, we'll see these two men standing side by side appearing on stage together. When they do that, what message are they hoping to send to voters?
GONYEA: Yeah, they're both known for being really combative, but also there's generational balance. There's hope, no doubt, that Vance will have appeal to younger voters. And, of course, all of this happens just days after the events of the weekend in Pennsylvania. So they're putting forth a message of resilience. And for what it's worth, the discussion of potential running mates included Senator Tim Scott and Senator Marco Rubio, who maybe could have brought Black or Latino voters to the ticket. But Trump decided not to go that direction.
SUMMERS: We'll just remind folks that this would be Trump's second vice president. He previously chose the former governor of Indiana, Mike Pence, who Trump condemns for not stopping the certification of the 2020 election amid the violence at the Capitol that we saw on January 6. So Don, what dynamic do you think Trump was looking for when he selected Vance as his running mate?
GONYEA: He certainly thinks he got burned by Pence, and he seems certain that in Vance, he has someone who will stick with him, no matter what. And, you know, the old model is that you'd pick a running mate to be an attack dog on the trail. Trump has always been happy to be the attack dog. But just for good measure, he has now added another attack dog to the ticket.
SUMMERS: Right. I mean, I remember, Don, covering J. D. Vance when we were covering politics together, and I know he was not always a Trump ally. So help us understand how he got on board with Trump.
GONYEA: Yeah, he was one of those never-Trumpers, right? And even after Trump took office, he once wondered - Vance did - whether Trump was maybe America's Hitler. But by the time Vance ran for office himself in 2022, he was fully on board. He was a defender of Donald Trump. Trump endorsed him. He spoke very highly of him, and now here we are.
SUMMERS: Here we are, indeed. That is NPR's Don Gonyea. Don, thank you.
GONYEA: My pleasure. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.
