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"contents": "<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Donald Trump selected JD Vance, a Republican senator from Ohio, as his running mate on Monday, elevating a politician who once criticised the former president in acid terms but has since become one of his most stalwart defenders.</span>\r\n\r\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-2276899\" src=\"https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/GettyImages-2161922008-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"trump jd vance running mate\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1707\" /> <em>Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump is rushed offstage during a rally on 13 July 2024 in Butler, Pennsylvania after being struck in the ear by a round from the automatic rifle of an alleged assassin. One audience member was killed and another two critically injured in the shooting. (Photo: Anna Moneymaker / Getty Images)</em></p>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The news, carried on Trump’s Truth Social media website, emerged at the start of the four-day Republican National Convention in Milwaukee to nominate the party’s presidential ticket.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“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 of the Great State of Ohio,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The selection of James David Vance, author of the bestselling memoir </span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Hillbilly Elegy</span></i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, could increase the odds of Trump supporters turning out for the 5 November election as the Ohio native is deeply popular with the Republican candidate’s base.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A staunch conservative from a Republican state, Vance is unlikely to bring many new voters into Trump’s corner, however, and may even alienate some moderates. Some Trump supporters had pushed him to select a woman or person of colour as his No 2 to expand a coalition that skews toward white men.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The former president (78) survived an assassination attempt at a Pennsylvania campaign rally on Saturday by a gunman whose motive remains unknown.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Several of Trump’s highest-profile backers — including former senior adviser Steve Bannon and Trump’s eldest son, Donald Trump Jr — have praised Vance for pushing the Republican Party to embrace a more hands-off foreign policy approach and for supporting trade barriers.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Vance has also delighted Trump supporters with his confrontational social media presence, a relative rarity in the Senate, where many legislators still try to maintain a sense of decorum and civility.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">At 39, Vance will represent a younger generation in an election that features Trump and President Joe Biden (81), bringing a counterweight to the Democratic ticket that also includes Vice-President Kamala Harris (59).</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In selecting Vance, Trump passed over other possible contenders including senators Marco Rubio and Tim Scott and North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum.</span>\r\n<h4><b>Troubled childhood</b></h4>\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Vance’s rapid ascent has been unusual for US politics. After a troubled and impoverished childhood in southern Ohio, he served in the Marine Corps, won a scholarship to Yale Law School and later worked as a venture capitalist in San Francisco.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">He rose to prominence after 2016 when he wrote </span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Hillbilly Elegy</span></i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, in which he explored the socioeconomic problems confronting his hometown and the cycle of poverty that had entrapped Americans in the Appalachian Mountains, where his mother and her family had their origins.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The book criticised what Vance saw as a self-destructive culture in the rural US and sought to explain Trump’s popularity among impoverished white Americans.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Vance himself was harshly critical of Trump before and after Trump’s 2016 election win against Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, calling him an “idiot” and “America’s Hitler”, among other epithets.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But as Vance geared up to run for the Senate in Ohio in 2022, he transformed into one of the former president’s most consistent defenders, supporting Trump even when some Senate colleagues declined to do so.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Vance has played down the 6 January 2021, attack on the US Capitol. He said he “doubted” Mike Pence’s life was in danger, despite violent protesters getting within metres of the former vice-president as Secret Service agents rushed him out of the Capitol building. Vance has also echoed Trump’s criticisms of the way the Justice Department has prosecuted 6 January rioters, accusing the department of disregarding due process protections.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In February, he declined to criticise Trump for </span><a href=\"https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-comments-russia-nato-appalling-unhinged-white-house-spokesperson-2024-02-11/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">encouraging</span></a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Russian President Vladimir Putin to attack the US’s Nato allies if they failed to increase their defence spending.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">While the Republican Party historically stood for free markets and embraced foreign intervention as an important national security tool, Trump’s 2016 election opened up significant rifts within the party. Vance has been one of the most vocal opponents of </span><a href=\"https://www.reuters.com/world/us/long-awaited-aid-ukraine-israel-taiwan-poised-pass-us-congress-2024-04-23/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">continued aid to Ukraine</span></a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> in the Senate, a stance at odds with many Republican legislative leaders.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">On the campaign trail, the former venture capitalist has also served as a bridge between Trump associates and wealthy Silicon Valley donors, many of whom have </span><a href=\"https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-liberal-san-francisco-high-dollar-tech-fundraiser-2024-06-06/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">opened their wallets</span></a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> to Trump this election.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Still, Vance’s selection has its detractors among Trump associates, notably those who had wanted Trump to select a diverse vice-presidential candidate. Though Trump and Biden are virtually tied in most national polls, Trump trails the Democratic president by significant margins among women and black Americans.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Some Trump associates privately questioned whether it would be wise to take Vance out of the Senate with Democrats and Republicans vying for control of the upper chamber. Democrats hold a one-seat advantage, though they are likely to lose ground in the November election.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Ohio, while safely Republican in presidential elections, does occasionally elect Democrats in other races. Vance </span><a href=\"https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-backed-jd-vance-wins-republican-nomination-ohio-us-senate-primary-nbc-news-2022-05-04/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">won his 2022 election</span></a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> by six percentage points. </span><b>DM</b>",
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"name": "Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump is rushed offstage during a rally on 13 July 2024 in Butler, Pennsylvania after being struck in the ear by a round from the automatic rifle of an attempted assassin. One audience member was killed and another injured in the shooting. (Photo: Anna Moneymaker / Getty Images)",
"description": "<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Donald Trump selected JD Vance, a Republican senator from Ohio, as his running mate on Monday, elevating a politician who once criticised the former president in acid terms but has since become one of his most stalwart defenders.</span>\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_2276899\" align=\"alignnone\" width=\"2560\"]<img class=\"size-full wp-image-2276899\" src=\"https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/GettyImages-2161922008-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"trump jd vance running mate\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1707\" /> <em>Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump is rushed offstage during a rally on 13 July 2024 in Butler, Pennsylvania after being struck in the ear by a round from the automatic rifle of an alleged assassin. One audience member was killed and another two critically injured in the shooting. (Photo: Anna Moneymaker / Getty Images)</em>[/caption]\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The news, carried on Trump’s Truth Social media website, emerged at the start of the four-day Republican National Convention in Milwaukee to nominate the party’s presidential ticket.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“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 of the Great State of Ohio,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The selection of James David Vance, author of the bestselling memoir </span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Hillbilly Elegy</span></i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, could increase the odds of Trump supporters turning out for the 5 November election as the Ohio native is deeply popular with the Republican candidate’s base.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A staunch conservative from a Republican state, Vance is unlikely to bring many new voters into Trump’s corner, however, and may even alienate some moderates. Some Trump supporters had pushed him to select a woman or person of colour as his No 2 to expand a coalition that skews toward white men.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The former president (78) survived an assassination attempt at a Pennsylvania campaign rally on Saturday by a gunman whose motive remains unknown.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Several of Trump’s highest-profile backers — including former senior adviser Steve Bannon and Trump’s eldest son, Donald Trump Jr — have praised Vance for pushing the Republican Party to embrace a more hands-off foreign policy approach and for supporting trade barriers.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Vance has also delighted Trump supporters with his confrontational social media presence, a relative rarity in the Senate, where many legislators still try to maintain a sense of decorum and civility.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">At 39, Vance will represent a younger generation in an election that features Trump and President Joe Biden (81), bringing a counterweight to the Democratic ticket that also includes Vice-President Kamala Harris (59).</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In selecting Vance, Trump passed over other possible contenders including senators Marco Rubio and Tim Scott and North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum.</span>\r\n<h4><b>Troubled childhood</b></h4>\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Vance’s rapid ascent has been unusual for US politics. After a troubled and impoverished childhood in southern Ohio, he served in the Marine Corps, won a scholarship to Yale Law School and later worked as a venture capitalist in San Francisco.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">He rose to prominence after 2016 when he wrote </span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Hillbilly Elegy</span></i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, in which he explored the socioeconomic problems confronting his hometown and the cycle of poverty that had entrapped Americans in the Appalachian Mountains, where his mother and her family had their origins.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The book criticised what Vance saw as a self-destructive culture in the rural US and sought to explain Trump’s popularity among impoverished white Americans.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Vance himself was harshly critical of Trump before and after Trump’s 2016 election win against Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, calling him an “idiot” and “America’s Hitler”, among other epithets.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But as Vance geared up to run for the Senate in Ohio in 2022, he transformed into one of the former president’s most consistent defenders, supporting Trump even when some Senate colleagues declined to do so.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Vance has played down the 6 January 2021, attack on the US Capitol. He said he “doubted” Mike Pence’s life was in danger, despite violent protesters getting within metres of the former vice-president as Secret Service agents rushed him out of the Capitol building. Vance has also echoed Trump’s criticisms of the way the Justice Department has prosecuted 6 January rioters, accusing the department of disregarding due process protections.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In February, he declined to criticise Trump for </span><a href=\"https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-comments-russia-nato-appalling-unhinged-white-house-spokesperson-2024-02-11/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">encouraging</span></a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Russian President Vladimir Putin to attack the US’s Nato allies if they failed to increase their defence spending.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">While the Republican Party historically stood for free markets and embraced foreign intervention as an important national security tool, Trump’s 2016 election opened up significant rifts within the party. Vance has been one of the most vocal opponents of </span><a href=\"https://www.reuters.com/world/us/long-awaited-aid-ukraine-israel-taiwan-poised-pass-us-congress-2024-04-23/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">continued aid to Ukraine</span></a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> in the Senate, a stance at odds with many Republican legislative leaders.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">On the campaign trail, the former venture capitalist has also served as a bridge between Trump associates and wealthy Silicon Valley donors, many of whom have </span><a href=\"https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-liberal-san-francisco-high-dollar-tech-fundraiser-2024-06-06/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">opened their wallets</span></a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> to Trump this election.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Still, Vance’s selection has its detractors among Trump associates, notably those who had wanted Trump to select a diverse vice-presidential candidate. Though Trump and Biden are virtually tied in most national polls, Trump trails the Democratic president by significant margins among women and black Americans.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Some Trump associates privately questioned whether it would be wise to take Vance out of the Senate with Democrats and Republicans vying for control of the upper chamber. Democrats hold a one-seat advantage, though they are likely to lose ground in the November election.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Ohio, while safely Republican in presidential elections, does occasionally elect Democrats in other races. Vance </span><a href=\"https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-backed-jd-vance-wins-republican-nomination-ohio-us-senate-primary-nbc-news-2022-05-04/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">won his 2022 election</span></a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> by six percentage points. </span><b>DM</b>",
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Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump is rushed offstage during a rally on 13 July 2024 in Butler, Pennsylvania after being struck in the ear by a round from the automatic rifle of an alleged assassin. One audience member was killed and another two critically injured in the shooting. (Photo: Anna Moneymaker / Getty Images)