Donald Trump's running mate JD Vance made his name writing about Americans of Ulster descent such as his family, and their values and challenges
Donald Trump named Senator J D Vance of Ohio as his presidential running mate yesterday, a man who has written about the Ulster Irish in America.
Mr Vance is a one-time critic of Mr Trump who became a loyal ally and is now the first millennial to join a major-party ticket at a time of deep concern about the advanced age of America’s political leaders.
“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,” Mr Trump said in a post on his Truth Social network.
It came as it was confirmed that Mr Trump has received enough delegate votes at the Republican convention to become the party’s presidential nominee.
Mr Vance, 39, rose to national fame with the 2016 publication of his memoir, Hillbilly Elegy. It is about the values of the Scots Irish (Americans whose descendants were Protestants from Ulster who became early settlers in pre independence America) in the Appalachians in Kentucky where he grew up.
He was born in Ohio to parents of such Scots Irish descent, Beverly Carol (née Vance) and Donald Ray Bowman. Mr Vance has written about the problems in such communities including poverty, drugs and abuse. His parents divorced when he was very young.
He was elected to the Senate in 2022 and has become one of the staunchest champions of the former president’s ‘Make America Great Again’ agenda, particularly on trade, foreign policy and immigration.
But he is largely untested in national politics and is joining the Trump ticket at an extraordinary moment.
An attempted assassination of Mr Trump at a rally on Saturday has shaken the campaign, bringing new attention to the nation’s coarse political rhetoric and reinforcing the importance of those who are one heartbeat away from the presidency.
Mr Vance himself faced criticism in the wake of the shooting for a post on X, formerly Twitter, that suggested President Joe Biden was to blame for the violence.
“The central premise of the Biden campaign is that President Donald Trump is an authoritarian fascist who must be stopped at all costs,” Mr Vance wrote.
“That rhetoric led directly to President Trump’s attempted assassination.”
Law enforcement has not yet specified a motivation for the shooting, but the choice is sure to energise Mr Trump’s loyal base.
Mr Vance has become a fixture on the conservative media circuit and frequently spars with reporters on Capitol Hill, helping establish him as the kind of leader who could carry Mr Trump’s mantle into the future, beginning with the next presidential election in 2028.