Photo: Trump (left) announced on the 15th that Ohio Senator Vance (right) would be his running mate. \Reuters

Former US President Trump was formally nominated as the party’s presidential candidate at the Republican National Convention on the 15th. Trump announced that he had chosen 39-year-old Ohio Senator Cyrus Vance as his running mate. Vance has only two years of political experience and shares the same stance as Trump on issues such as the economy and immigration, and their supporters also overlap to a high degree. Some analysts believe that Trump did not choose a vice president who would help him canvass for votes, but his successor. Sources revealed that this choice has caused controversy within the Republican Party, with Trump’s former senior adviser Kellyanne Conway and several Republican big donors opposing Vance’s candidacy.

[Ta Kung Pao News]On the 15th local time, Trump, who had just suffered an assassination attempt, walked into the Republican National Convention with a white bandage on his ear. He was officially nominated as the 2024 Republican presidential candidate at the convention and announced that he had chosen Vance as his running mate. When Vance and his Indian wife Usha entered the venue, the audience burst into warm applause.

Trump said Vance will continue to focus on the people he has been fighting for, namely American workers and farmers in Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, Ohio, Minnesota and more remote areas. People familiar with the matter said that Trump likes Vance’s background and feels that Vance is “the person who can have the most chemistry with him.” Vance was born in the “Rust Belt” and his family was poor. He joined the Marine Corps and served in Iraq. After retiring, he attended Yale Law School and worked in venture capital. He eventually became a rising star in the Republican Party. Ohio Lieutenant Governor Husted said that Vance is “the living embodiment of the American dream.” In 2016, Vance published a best-selling memoir “Hillbilly Elegy”, and many people learned from this book why Trump is supported by the white working class.

Given that Trump can only serve one more term as president, Vance is also seen as a strong contender for the 2028 election. After Trump was assassinated, Vance immediately pointed the finger at the current US President Biden, exacerbating the confrontation between the two parties.

Murdoch’s strong opposition was ineffective

The New York Times reported that Trump did not finalize his running mate until the last minute, and he privately had some grudges about Vance’s past remarks. Anti-Vance forces, including Australian media tycoon Murdoch, were engaged in frantic lobbying until the last minute. Conway, who once served as Trump’s senior adviser, had previously advised Trump not to choose Vance, but to consider Florida Senator Rubio or Virginia Governor Youngkin. But Vance’s allies, including Tesla founder Musk and former Fox TV host Tucker Carlson, have also been mobilizing various people to call Trump and try their best to endorse Vance. It was not until the afternoon of the 15th that Trump told Vance his decision, and about half an hour later he announced the candidate on social networking sites.

Vance’s relationship with Trump is quite dramatic. On the eve of the 2016 US election, Vance lashed out at Trump, accusing him of being “America’s Hitler.” But after deciding to run in the 2022 Senate election, Vance reshaped himself as a loyal fan of Trump and received Trump’s support. He claimed that Trump’s performance in the White House proved that his previous opposition was wrong. He refused to acknowledge the results of the 2020 election and said that if he had been vice president at the time, he would not have certified the election results like Pence did. On the 15th, Vance admitted that he had said bad things about Trump and emphasized: “I think it’s important to admit that you are wrong.”

China: Oppose using China as an excuse

Veteran Republican pollster Newhouse said that Trump’s choice of Vance did not seem to be based on campaign considerations, but rather on the implementation of policies after winning the election.

The New York Times said that Trump has chosen a successor. Vance supports populist economic policies and advocates for widespread tariffs. In the field of diplomacy, he advocates a tough stance against China and believes that Asia is the focus of US foreign policy for the next 40 years. He also calls for an end to aid to Ukraine. On issues such as immigration and abortion, his stance is also highly consistent with Trump’s.

When Vance was asked about the war in Ukraine in an interview on Monday, he said that Trump would negotiate with Moscow and Kiev to “quickly end this war so that the United States can focus on the real problem, which is China.” He also claimed that China is the biggest threat to the United States. In response, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian said on the 16th, “We have always opposed the US election using China as an issue.”

(The New York Times/The Washington Post/BBC)