Democrats back on offense over Trump’s “despicable” J.D. Vance pick
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Sen. J.D. Vance, standing with his wife Usha and GOP Senate candidate Bernie Moreno at the Republican National Convention on July 15, 2024. Photo: Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images.
In former President Trump's pick of Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio) as his running mate, Democrats see their first opening to go on offense since Trump survived an assassination attempt on Saturday.
Why it matters: The shooting prompted Democrats to draw down their rhetoric and campaign activities, but Vance's right-wing views and past Trump criticism have quickly become fodder for the party.
- Rep. Annie Kuster (D-N.H.), the chair of the center-left New Democrat Coalition, said in a one-word statement on Vance's selection, "Despicable."
- Vance "has shifted from openly expressing his disdain for Trump, once referring to him as 'America's Hitler' ... to now joining him on the ticket," Rep. Joyce Beatty (D-Ohio) said in a statement.
- Rep. Melanie Stansbury (D-N.M.) called the selection "alarming" and a "direct threat to American values and rights," citing Vance's anti-abortion positions,
Zoom out: Vance has shifted from an anti-Trump Republican to one of the GOP's most prominent right-wing populists during his rapid political ascension.
- He won election to the Senate in 2022, and has distinguished himself as a staunch opponent of funding for Ukraine and a rare GOP advocate for organized labor, as well as one of Trump's most loyal allies.
- The Biden campaign was quick to go after Vance for saying the 2020 election had "had a lot of problems" and that, had he been vice president in 2021, he would have told states to send multiple elector slates.
- Trump allies hope that Vance's background as a rural Rust Belt native, who rose to fame with his bestselling book "Hillbilly Elegy," will boost the ex-president in key Midwest battleground states.
What we're hearing: Some Democrats told Axios they believe Trump's selection of Vance was a political misstep by the former president that will ultimately play into their party's hands.
- "I'm unimpressed with the pick," said one senior House Democrat, who said Trump should have gone with House Republican Conference Chair Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.).
- Another House Democrat, asked about the selection, sent Axios a video from a United Auto Workers strike last October in which Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-Ohio) asked Vance: "First time here?"
The intrigue: Vance has already made his way into Democratic fundraising appeals, including emails from Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio).
- Ocasio-Cortez's email blasts Vance as a "fierce 2020 election results denier" who "has flipflopped on his stance on abortion to gain favor with Trump."
The other side: "So much for lowering the temperature," said National Republican Congressional Committee spokesperson Will Reinert in a statement to Axios.
- "Democrats were hoodwinked into believing 'Speaker Jeffries' was a possibility and now they are throwing incendiary temper tantrums."
- Rep. Jim Banks (R-Ind.) said at an Axios House event on Monday that "nobody can go out and help Donald Trump talk to [working class] voters better" than Vance.
- Vance will "appropriately" be sent frequently to Rust Belt states like Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin, Banks said.
