JD Vance will return home less than one week after being tapped to join Donald Trump on the Republican ticket this November.
The Vice Presidential candidate will hold a "Hometown Rally" in Middletown on Monday, according to an event posting on Donald Trump's campaign site .
The rally is scheduled to begin at Middletown High School on Breiel Blvd. July 22 at 1:30 p.m., but doors will open as early as 10 a.m.
The event does not list Trump as an attendee; the pair will be at a rally together just days before, in Grand Rapids, Michigan on Saturday, June 20.
Trump announced the "Hillbilly Elegy" author would be his VP choice on Monday, posting to Truth Social as the Republican National Convention kicked off in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
JD Vance talks upbringing, targets swing states in first speech as Donald Trump's running mate
"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 from the Great State of Ohio," Trump wrote on the social media site.
The Middletown, Ohio native was endorsed by Trump during his run for the Ohio Senate, though the pair's relationship has occasionally been rocky.
Trump boosted Vance's career, and Vance has returned the favor by unceasingly defending Trump's policies and behavior. His debating skills, ability to articulate Trump's vision and fund-raising prowess are all potential assets for Vance, those familiar with the vetting process say.
It's far from where Vance's relationship to Trump started. His best-selling book gained Vance a reputation as a “Trump whisperer” able to help explain the maverick New York businessman's appeal in middle America, but Vance was a never-Trumper in 2016. He called Trump “dangerous” and “unfit” for office. Vance, whose wife, lawyer Usha Chilukuri Vance, is Indian-American and the mother of their three children, also criticized Trump's racist rhetoric, saying he could be “America's Hitler.”
But not everyone sees the book — later adapted into a Ron Howard-directed film, starring Glenn Close and Amy Adams — that way. It ignited criticism from scholars across Appalachia, many of whom said it trafficked in cheap stereotypes and failed to diagnose the origins of the region's troubled history or offer workable policy solutions.
Ohio Senator JD Vance named Trump's VP candidate
Some city officials in Middletown still cringe at its mention. They fear their town has forever been branded a forsaken backwater, even as investments pour into local manufacturing, infrastructure and recreational opportunities.
More local politics:
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