After what feels like years of speculation and game show-style teases over former President Trump’s VP pick, it’s Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio), the 39-year-old bestselling author of “Hillbilly Elegy” with the same conservative populist agenda as his new boss.
I watched Vance get formally nominated in Milwaukee Monday, and he was beaming from ear-to-ear. My colleague, Mychael Schnell, was right near him on the floor and captured his reaction. 📹 Watch her clip and watch this clip of the convention when Vance walked out.
📸 Watch the Vances embrace before walking onto the convention floor, from the great Doug Mills
Some of the chatter about Vance on the ticket: The Hill’s Niall Stanage points out: “I find it weird that people are arguing there’s no political advantage to Vance. Whether you like him or not, he won his Senate race easily in Ohio, a state abutting Pennsylvania and demographically similar to it. If the Trump-Vance ticket wins PA, it’s pretty much over.”
What happened behind the scenes: Trump called the Ohio senator 20 minutes before the announcement to offer him the role. But it’s worth noting that he was spotted getting a motorcade escort amid speculation over the weekend. Meanwhile, North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum (R) told CNN’s Kaitlan Collins that when the former president called to tell him he would not be the running mate, he called him “Mr. Secretary,” appearing to imply he could appoint him to a Cabinet post in his next administration. 📹 Watch Burgum’s description
THIS MORNING — spotted with his shiny new security detail: The Hill’s Al Weaver spotted Vance going for a walk with his family in downtown Milwaukee this morning, flanked by his new Secret Service detail. He’s wearing a plain T-shirt and jeans.
📸 Photo
📸 Another photo on the way to Walgreens
📹 Watch Vance carry his kid on his shoulders
The merch hasn’t quite caught up: Because Trump didn’t announce Vance as his pick until Monday afternoon, Trump-Vance swag wasn’t available Monday
Trump building the suspense meant Trump-Vance swag wasn’t available Monday. I saw some delegates write “Vance” on their Trump signs, however. And of all the swag being sold outside the venue, there was obviously no Vance merch yet. But the Trump campaign did post a photo of the new Trump-Vance plane. That was a fast turnaround!
Even more emotional for Republicans than the Vance moment: Trump made an appearance at the convention hall, wearing a bandage on his right ear. 💻Here’s a clip 💻And another clip
I would love to be a fly on the wall near Mike Pence right now: Trump’s adult son, Eric Trump, posted the Trump-Pence slogan on Instagram, but replaced the first two letters to make it say Vance. 📸Eric Trump’s edited Instagram photo
💻 Throwback: Last month, The New York Times’s Maggie Haberman posted a clip of Vance and his wife, Usha Vance, sitting down for a Fox News interview. This is pretty interesting to watch.