Former US President Donald Trump revealed in an interview that he chose Ohio Senator JD Vance as his running mate because there was a “chemical reaction” between them. Trump brushed off Vance’s past criticisms of him, saying Vance “didn’t understand” him at the time.
During an interview on Fox News’s “Jesse Waters Primetime” show on Monday, Trump was asked why he chose Vance, to which he replied, “We have always had a great chemistry.”
Trump explained that Vance was not a fan of his before, but after they got to know each other, Vance completely transformed, saying, “Initially, JD may not have been the right fit for me, but he didn’t understand me. After we got to know each other, he liked me more than anyone else. He will support me, he will fight for the workers, just like I do.”
Trump mentioned supporting Vance’s Senate campaign in Ohio in 2022, saying, “In fact, I supported him running for Senate in Ohio, and he ended up winning a very tough race.”
Trump also mentioned Vance’s bestselling book “Hillbilly Elegy,” which details Vance’s struggles with poverty and family drug addiction during his upbringing in Ohio.
“He wrote a book, everyone knows, that’s a classic. The whole book is about the working class and how they are mistreated unfairly. And he’s right about that. I may understand that better than others,” Trump said.
When discussing the vice presidential nominee, Trump said, “He (Vance) has tough competition. We have great people, each one of them is. Many of them have more government experience than Vance.”
Shortly after Trump announced Vance as his running mate, many critics pointed out that Vance had previously launched personal attacks against Trump, calling him a “moron,” “toxic,” a “careless jerk,” and “America’s Hitler,” and in a 2016 article in The Atlantic magazine, described Trump as “cultural heroin.”
Vance later apologized for these remarks, stating that his views on Trump were “wrong.”
In May, during a CNN interview when asked about his previous comments, Vance said, “I’ve been very clear about this… Listen, I got it wrong. I don’t think he would be a good president… and I’m very, very proud to be proven wrong. That’s one of the reasons why I worked so hard to get him elected.”