I was a total surprise….
Trump shocked everyone…
Trump picked JD Vance as his running mate out of the list of potential VP picks.
Since Vance was a “never-Trumper,” no one suspected that Vance was even in the running.
However, Vance says he “changed his mind” and has since become a strong Trump supporter.
Not many people knew much about Vance, only that he was elected to the Senate in 2022 and that he had a bestselling book, Hillbilly Elegy, which became a Netflix movie.
So, who is JD Vance?
James David “JD” Vance was born and raised in Middletown, Ohio.
In 2005, he enlisted in the United States Marine Corps and served our nation in the Iraq War.
When he returned, he entered college and graduated from Ohio State University and Yale Law School in 2013.
After college, Vance practiced law for roughly two years before moving to San Francisco to work as a venture capitalist in the technology industry.
From 2016 to 2017, he was a principal at Peter Thiel’s firm, Mithril Capital.
Here are 14 things you should know about JD Vance…
1) US Senator from Ohio, elected in 2022
In 2021, Vance decided to run for the U.S. Senate. It was a tough race against Democrat Tim Ryan, who positioned himself as a moderate and champion of the middle class until Trump’s endorsement boosted Vance to victory.
“I am overwhelmed with gratitude,” Vance said when he won.
“Whether you voted for me or not,” he added, “the thing that I promise to do is go to the United States Senate and fight every single day for the people of Ohio.”
Vance grew up in Middletown, Ohio.
2) He’s the second youngest Vice President at 39 years old
Vance was born on August 2nd, 1984, and, after John Cabell Breckinridge (36), who served under James Buchanan, is the second youngest vice president.
Vance is also the first millennial to serve in the Senate.
On picking Vance, Trump said:
“After lengthy deliberation, thought, and consideration, 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.”
3) Vance is a practicing Catholic
Vance converted to Catholicism in 2019, saying that although he believed in God growing up, his family was not affiliated with any religion.
“I guess you can say I was raised a Christian,” Vance said, “but when I was at Yale, I was completely cut off from both church and God… I would have called myself an atheist… That’s when I reconnected to the power of faith and began considering Catholicism. I was baptized in 2019 and officially became a Catholic.”
4) Vance married Usha Chilukuri
Vance and Usha (38) met while attending Yale Law School. They immediately clicked and were married in 2014. Vance and Usha, a Hindu, had 2 marriage ceremonies, one a traditional Hindu ceremony and the other a traditional Christian ceremony.
“Usha’s faith helped me navigate my spiritual journey,” Vance said.
Usha is a corporate lawyer and would be the first Hindu to be the second lady should Vance become vice president.
5) Vance is the father of 3 children
Vance has three young children: Ewan, 7; Vivek, 4; and Mirabel, 2. They live in Cincinnati’s East Walnut Hills neighborhood.
6) Vance is kinda conservative… kinda not
Some call Vance a “populist conservative,” but his position on the free market is weak. However, his position on social issues, like abortion, is strong—he’s anti-abortion.
“My Mamaw raised me in a sort of hybrid between left-wing social democracy and right-wing personal uplift, and there is a virtue to both of these worldviews,” Vance said.
In the Senate, Vance supported Democrat bills, including:
- A measure to claw back compensation from bankers whose institutions fail cosponsored by liberal Sen. Elizabeth Warren.
- A railroad reform bill promoted by liberal Sen. Sherrod Brown.
- A bill to lower insulin prices, cosponsored by liberal Sen. Rafael Warnock.
7) Well-known, best-selling author and film on his life
Vance gained nationwide attention for his 2016 best-selling book, Hillbilly Elegy.
The book details his life, growing up poor in the Rust Belt of Ohio, where drugs and financial hardships were common.
The book became a bestseller and was adapted into a 2020 movie directed by Academy Award winner Ron Howard, starring Glenn Close, Amy Adams, and Bo Hopkins.
8) He credits his success to his “Mamaw,” not his parents
JD Vance barely knew his father, who left the family when he was very young, and his mother, a drug addict, couldn’t hold a steady job. Seeing the writing on the wall, Vance’s grandmother decided to raise Vance independently, giving him the discipline and stability he needed.
Vance credits his success to his time living with his ‘mamaw.’
9) Vance has a commonsense approach to foreign affairs
Vance learned a lot as a Marine stationed overseas, saying he made a “mistake in supporting the Iraq War.”
“I served my country honorably, and I saw when I went to Iraq that I had been lied to… That the promise of the foreign policy establishment of this country was a complete joke,” Vance said.
Vance has been very critical of giving Ukraine billions without any accountability.
Vance voted against giving aid packages to Ukraine, saying that “Europe should bear the brunt of funding the war in Ukraine.”
10) Vance was Anti-Trump, then became very Pro-Trump
In 2016, Vance said he was “definitely not” voting for Trump and contemplating voting for Hillary Clinton.
In 2017, Vance had called Trump a “moral disaster,” a “total fraud,” and “reprehensible.”
When the “Access Hollywood” video came out, Vance tweeted:
“Fellow Christians, everyone watches us when we apologize for this man. Lord help us.”
But in 2020, Vance had a change of heart and fully embraced Trump, telling Megyn Kelly that he voted for Trump.
“I did say those critical things, and I regret them, and I regret being wrong about the guy,” Vance said, citing Trump’s “many successes in office” as the reason he changed his mind.
“I’m proud to be one of his [Trump’s] strongest supporters in the Senate today,” Vance said, “and I’m going to do everything in my power to ensure President Trump wins in November – the survival of America depends on it.”
In an interview on CNN, Vance told Dana Bash, “I didn’t think he was going to be a good president, Dana, and I was very proud to be proven wrong. It’s one of the reasons why I’m working so hard to get him elected.”
11) Trump’s sons picked Vance
Since becoming a Senator, Vance has developed a close friendship with Trump’s sons, especially Donald Trump Jr.
In fact, they became so close that Donald Trump Jr campaigned for Vance.
When it came time for President Trump to pick his Vice President, Donals Trump Jr strongly advocated for Vance.
12) Vance has a strong conservative voting record
According to the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, Vance has one of the most conservative voting records in the Senate, voting for conservative issues 93% of the time.
13) Abortion is a state’s issue
Vance supported the Supreme Court’s ruling to return the issue of abortion to the states, saying that leaving it to the states is “pragmatic.”
In 2022, Vance supported a bill to ban abortion at 15 weeks.
14) Support for Israel
Vance has an America-first agenda but also feels that we need to support Israel, rejecting any aid packages that limit Israel’s ability to defend itself from Hamas and other dangers in the region.
“A majority of citizens of this country think that their savior, and I count myself as Christian, was born, died, and resurrected in that narrow little strip of territory off the Mediterranean, the idea that there is ever going to be an American foreign policy that doesn’t care a lot about that slice of the world is preposterous.”
Let me know what you think. Email me at [email protected].
Action Steps:
1) Pray for our country.
2) Volunteer, donate (money/time), and vote to replace these radicals in Congress, the Senate, and the Presidency.
3) Get my new book, The Great Deception: 10 Shocking Dangers and the Blueprint for Rescuing the American Dream.
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