Ohio Sen. JD Vance Rises in Trump’s Veepstakes

(AP)

Sen. J.D. Vance, R-Ohio, could be former President Donald Trump’s pick for vice president.

According to The Hill, the first-term senator and bestselling author of “Hillbilly Elegy” is one of the top contenders to be Trump’s vice-presidential nominee.

The Ohio senator, who was elected to the Senate in 2022, has made a name for himself with his unwavering support for Trump and his opposition to additional aid to Ukraine in its war against Russia.

Vance has developed a close friendship with Donald Trump, Jr., who was effusive in his praise for the junior senator from the Buckeye State.

“Not only has J.D. been a leader for the America First policy agenda in the Senate, he has been a courageous warrior for my father defending him from all of the leftwing lawfare coming from the Swamp,” he said to The Hill. “While too many Republicans are weak and crumble when things get tough, J.D. has a spine of steel and isn’t afraid to fight.”

Rep. Jim Banks, R-Ind., who is running for senate, said Vance is the “future of our party.”

“He’d make a great vice president,” Banks told The Hill.

Vance has done a 180 in his support for Trump. When Trump ran for president in 2016, Vance called himself a “Never Trump guy” in an interview with Charlie Rose, and in tweets he later deleted, said Trump was “noxious,” an “idiot” and “reprehensible.” He later admitted to voting for a third-party candidate for president.

But Vance changed his tune when he launched his Senate campaign and said he was happy to be proven wrong about Trump’s presidency. Trump later endorsed Vance, catapulting Vance to a win in the Republican primary.

As a senator, Vance has been willing to work across the aisle, introducing legislation with Democrat senators such as Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn.

Vance has also continued to support Trump through his criminal and civil trials, appearing outside a Manhattan courthouse to criticize Michael Cohen, Trump’s former attorney. Vance has criticized the criminal indictments and civil cases against Trump as politically motivated.

“This is not about prosecuting Trump for something that he did,” Vance said in an interview on “This Week” in January. “Democrats feel that they can’t beat him at the ballot box. And so, they’re trying to defeat him in court.”