Former President and 1968 Wharton graduate picked Ohio Senator J.D. Vance as his running mate. (Photo by Ethan Young and Gage Skidmore | CC BY-SA 2.0)
Credit: Ethan YoungFormer President and 1968 Wharton graduate Donald Trump announced U.S. Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio) as his choice for vice president and officially received enough delegates to secure the 2024 Republican presidential nomination on Monday.
The announcement comes on a milestone day for the Trump campaign and the first day of the 2024 Republican National Convention. The RNC — taking place this week in Milwaukee — comes two days after a shooting and assassination attempt on Trump at a campaign rally in Butler, Pa. on Saturday evening that left two dead, including the shooter. Vance, the junior U.S. senator for Ohio and a once a staunch critic of Trump, is now ideologically aligned with the former president on a number of key issues.
In a post on his social media platform Truth Social, Trump wrote that he settled on Vance after “lengthy deliberation and thought, and considering the tremendous talents of many others.”
“As Vice President, J.D. will continue to fight for our Constitution, stand with our Troops, and will do everything he can to help me MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN,” Trump added.
In the past, Vance often criticized the former president. He has warned that Trump could be “America’s Hitler,” described him as an “idiot,” and referred to his policies as “immoral” and absurd.”
Vance will be the first millennial to serve on the presidential ticket of a major political party. He has also served in the U.S. Marine Corps.
Monday afternoon also saw the Republican Party formally cement Trump as their nominee for the third consecutive election.
Eric Trump awarded the necessary delegates to his father, announcing that Florida would nominate all 125 delegates “for the greatest president that’s ever lived ... Donald J. Trump.”
When Trump was awarded the 91 delegates from New York, Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) said that she believes Trump “will win New York State.”
During a Congressional hearing on Dec. 5, 2023, Stefanik, who sits on the U.S. House Committee on Education and the Workforce, repeatedly asked former Penn President Liz Magill if a call for the genocide of Jewish people would violate Penn’s policies or code of conduct. In response, Magill stated that a call for the genocide of Jews is harassment “if it is directed, and severe, pervasive” and would be a “a context-dependent decision.”
Magill resigned on Dec. 9, 2023, four days after the hearing.
Also on Monday, U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon, who was responsible for overseeing Trump’s classified documents case, threw out the case in a victory for the former president. She ruled that the appointment of the special counsel, Jack Smith, violated the Constitution.
Trump had been charged with 40 counts of illegally retaining classified defense information and obstructing government attempts to access the information, which was found in his Florida home, Mar-a-Lago. The dismissal — which the special counsel is planning to appeal — is the latest legal victory for Trump as he looks ahead to the rest of his campaign.
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