Donald Trump on Monday chose Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance as his running mate, after the Republican Party formally nominated the former president to run for president again at the start of its convention in Milwaukee.
“As Vice President, JD will continue to fight for our Constitution, stand with our troops, and do everything in his power to Make America Great Again,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.
more:Republican National Convention 2024 Update: Trump secures Republican nomination, selects Vance as running mate
Vance, 39, was a fierce critic of Trump in 2016 but is now one of his staunchest defenders, backing Trump’s false claims that the 2020 election was tainted by widespread fraud.
Vance is also a Catholic, but was baptized relatively recently, in August 2019. In a 2020 blog post for the Catholic journal The Ramp, Vance explained how he was raised as a Christian but identified as an atheist while attending Ohio State University.
Later, at Yale Law School, Vance writes, he was introduced to philosopher René Girard through entrepreneur Peter Thiel, whose insight that human civilization is founded on the “scapegoat myth” — violence against a common enemy — was a major factor in leading him to “the truth,” he writes.
If Trump and Vance win the general election in November, Vance will become the second Catholic vice president of the United States. The first was Joe Biden, who was elected vice president under former President Barack Obama in 2008.
Reuters contributed to this article.
