J.D. Vance once called Donald Trump "America’s Hitler,” likening him to "cultural heroin.” On Monday, the Ohio senator was named the former president’s running mate.
It’s a shrewd and calculated pick — a nod to Trump’s base. More than any of the other contenders, Vance’s selection shows that Trump wants to lock down the MAGA faithful and ensure they turn out — even if that means losing more moderate and independent voters. Vance’s rhetoric is at times harsher and hotter than Trump’s and his positions more extreme.
At 39, Vance is decades younger than the 78-year-old Trump, making the acid-tongued senator a young and vigorous inheritor of the MAGA movement — whenever that time should come. His selection also sends a clear message to the country that Trump is building a movement that will reshape the nation, not just for one term, but for the future.