Former President Trump selects Ohio Senator J.D. Vance as his running mate

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Former United States President Donald Trump announced on Monday afternoon that he has selected Ohio Senator J.D. Vance as his Vice President candidate and running mate for the 2024 election. 

Once a heavy critic of Trump, Vance has recently fallen in line with the leader of the GOP and will now stand by his side as he runs for his second term as president. 

Former Indiana Governor Mike Pence was Trump's Vice President during his first campaign, but a very public falling out over the events of Jan. 6, 2021, turned the once allies into political foes.

Vance rose to prominence as an author for his 2016 memoir Hillbilly Elegy which was later made into a feature film.

“President Trump made an exceptional pick in J.D. Vance to be his running mate and serve as our next Vice President," said Indiana Senator Mike Braun. "I first met J.D. back when his book hit the shelves, and I was impressed by his ideas and optimism for revitalizing the industrial Midwest. I’ve been fortunate to get to know him better in the Senate working with him on legislation like the Railway Safety Act which he led after the East Palestine disaster. J.D. Vance knows firsthand the experience of the forgotten American family and is proof that there’s no limit to how high you can rise in our country with hard work and strong values.”

On the other side of the isle, Democratic National Committee Chair Jaime Harrison says having Vance on the ticket with Trump raises the stakes of this year's election even higher.

“This is the most consequential election of our lifetimes, and with Donald Trump’s decision today to add J.D. Vance to the Republican ticket, the stakes of this election just got even higher," Harrison said.

"J.D. Vance embodies MAGA – with an out-of-touch extreme agenda and plans to help Trump force his Project 2025 agenda on the American people. Vance has championed and enabled Trump’s worst policies for years – from a national abortion ban, to whitewashing January 6, to railing against Social Security and Medicare. Let’s be clear: A Trump-Vance ticket would undermine our democracy, our freedoms, and our future. There is so much on the line, and it’s more important than ever that we reelect President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris this November.”