Former President Donald Trump is heading to Michigan fresh on the heels of the Republican National Convention, holding a rally Saturday in Grand Rapids, his first appearance at an event open to the public after he was shot in the ear during an assassination attempt July 13 in Butler, Pennsylvania.
The rally, at Van Andel Arena, will also be the campaign's first since U.S. Sen. JD Vance was announced as Trump's running mate. Here's more on Vance ahead of his first campaign swing of the 2024 election cycle:
Who is JD Vance, Trump’s running mate pick?
Vance is a first-term Republican U.S. senator from Ohio, having been sworn in last year. Vance, 39, is a Marine Corps veteran with degrees from Ohio State University and Yale. He and his wife, Usha Chilukuri Vance, the daughter of Indian immigrants, have three children.
How did Vance rise to prominence?
Vance is the author of the book “Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis,” published in 2016 by Harper Collins Publisher. A USA TODAY report describes the book, in which Vance details his upbringing in rural parts of Kentucky and Ohio. The book also goes into Vance’s childhood, which he wrote was plagued by drug addiction, abuse and poverty. USA TODAY reported Vance described a sense of disenchantment and "learned helplessness" in white, rural America.
Vance, before publishing "Hillbilly Elegy," had also written for outlets, including National Review.
Vance wasn’t always a supporter of Trump
Reuters reported Vance was harshly critical of Trump, both publicly and privately, in 2016 and during the opening stages of the former president's 2017-21 term.
In a 2016 interview on NPR’s “Fresh Air,” Vance said he planned to vote for a third-party candidate in that year’s election.
“But I think that I'm going to vote third party because I can't stomach Trump. I think that he's noxious and is leading the white working class to a very dark place,” Vance told "Fresh Air" host Terry Gross.
But Vance’s tune has changed on Trump — when he ran for Senate in 2022, he enthusiastically sought Trump’s endorsement. In an interview with Fox News’ Sean Hannity, Vance said his outlook on Trump changed during the former president’s time in the White House.
"I don't hide from that. I was certainly skeptical of Donald Trump in 2016, but President Trump was a great president and he changed my mind. I think he changed the minds of a lot of Americans," Vance said during the Hannity interview.
What made Trump pick Vance as running mate?
Vance’s appeal to Trump stems from a mix of factors — he’s relatively young, as he turns 40 in August. He would be one of the youngest vice presidents in American history if Trump were to win this fall. Political analysts have noted Vance could be a prominent figure for the "Make America Great Again" coalition for years to come.
While Ohio is no longer considered a swing state in presidential elections, given Trump's margin of victory there in the 2016 and 2020 elections, Vance also has a Midwestern background which the Trump campaign hopes will boost his appeal in states like Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania.
How have Democrats reacted to Vance’s selection?
Democrats and President Joe Biden's campaign have been quick to try and frame Vance as an extreme running mate choice, saying Vance supports a national abortion ban. During Vance’s Senate campaign in 2022, he said he would vote for a national abortion ban at 15 weeks of gestation and said he believed in certain exceptions without specifying them, the Associated Press reported.
What is Vance expected to address in Grand Rapids?
Saturday will mark Trump’s second visit to Grand Rapids this year — in April, he held a news conference where he hammered Biden’s record on immigration.
The campaign didn’t offer a specific subject for Saturday’s rally, although it continued to criticize Biden’s handling of the U.S. Southern border with Mexico and economic inflation.
USA Today contributed.
Contact Arpan Lobo: alobo@freepress.com
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