who is JD Vance, his vice-president who is giving the Democrats cold sweats?

UNITED STATES – He is back at the White House. Republican Donald Trump was just elected president this Wednesday, November 6, winning more than the 270 voters needed to win. And he is not alone since his running mate JD Vance will become vice-president. The Midwestern elected official, also a best-selling author, is known for his very conservative and provocative positions on immigration and abortion.

“Thank you to President Donald J. Trump for giving me the opportunity to serve our country at this level. And to the American people, for their trust. I will never stop fighting for ALL of you”Donald Trump's running mate reacted on X this Wednesday, a few hours after the announcement of the Republican presidential candidate's victory.

James David Vance, 40 years old and a child of the Midwest, was chosen by the former American president to become his vice-president in the event of victory, last July 15 during the Republican convention. “It’s in sync with Trump’s appeal to working-class men and women”confided Mike DeWine, governor of Ohio, adding that his young age was also an asset.

However, before becoming his running mate, JD Vance did not fail to address the harshest criticisms of Donald Trump during his first term. “I never liked him”. « I go back and forth between thinking that Trump is a cynical asshole…or that he is America's Hitler”wrote the young senator from Ohio in 2016, relays the BBC. It's hard to believe that in just a few years he could have become one of Trump's most loyal supporters.

A modest childhood in the Midwest

JD Vance's childhood partly explains why he was chosen by the Republican camp for this presidential campaign. Born in Middletown, Ohio, a former industrialized region, he grew up in a very modest family, with a mother who struggled with drug addiction, and an absent father. Raised by his grandparents, he also mentioned his grandmother “Mamaw” during his first speech as running mate, saying he remembered a “ frail old woman who made sure that wherever she was, she had everything she needed to protect her family close at hand,” that is… guns.

After high school, the young man joined the Navy and carried out a mission in Iraq. He then studied at Ohio University, before joining Yale Law School. JD Vance met there the woman who is today his wife, Usha, daughter of Indian academics living in California. The future vice-president then worked in the field of venture capital and raised funds for tech companies.

Revealed by the release of his book

But it was in 2016 with the release of his autobiography, Hillbilly Elegy that he becomes known to the general public. In his bestseller, he paints a portrait of a poor America, that of his native region of the Midwest, faced with deindustrialization and drug addiction, and of a white working class in great difficulty, reports The Parisian. He also talks about the lack of social advancement in his country, criticizes social assistance and those who would benefit from the system. Building on its success, the book was even adapted for cinema.

In 2022, moderate Republican senator from Ohio, Rob Portman, decides not to run again. For JD Vance it is the opportunity to enter politics helped by his former boss, Peter Thiel, one of the most influential men in Silicon Valley. The latter donated 10 million dollars to his campaign, recalls the BBC. JD Vance even benefits from the support of the famous Donald Trump after several months spent getting closer to the “Make America Great Again” movement. He won the election and then continued to show his loyalty to the former president, supporting him for example during his trial in the Stormy Daniels affair, according to CNN.

Sexist and xenophobic remarks

To understand JD Vance's political positions, we must refer to the controversies that punctuated the campaign about him. After his appointment as running mate, a video interview from 2021 resurfaced on social media. The Ohio senator accused Kamala Harris of being part – like other members of the Democratic Party – of a gang of “ unhappy childless cat women.” An attack based on a sexist cliché, which he defends himself by saying he has nothing “against cats”. “It’s true that we have become ‘anti-family’. It's true that the left has become anti-children », adds this Christian father of three children.

A very conservative position on the family which also influences his vision of the right to abortion. If he has since tried to modify the content of his speech as noted Rolling StoneJD Vance had previously been in favor of a national ban on abortion, in particular so that women would stop moving from one state to another in the hope of having an abortion.

JD Vance's other big fight is the fight against immigration, particularly on the border with Mexico. “ “Housing is completely unaffordable because we have brought in millions of illegal immigrants who are competing with Americans for access to scarce housing”the Republican running mate said during the debate against Tim Waltz in early October, reports CBS.

Visiting the border in Arizona at the end of October, he also declared that he wanted to end temporary immigration programs. Around 864,000 immigrants benefit from legal residency through Temporary Protected Status, created for people fleeing crises in their home countries. This program grants legal protection to immigrants from 16 countries, most of whom are from Venezuela, El Salvador and Haiti, explains the New York Times.

But what shocked the most in the United States was the fake news according to which Haitian migrants were eating pets in Ohio. A xenophobic rumor maintained among others by JD Vance and which disrupted the daily lives of the residents of Springfield, raising fears of racist violence.

Just like Donald Trump for the presidency, JD Vance will be inaugurated vice-president during the inauguration ceremony in Washington on January 20. Joe Biden and Kamala Harris must have left the White House by this date.

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