'Trump iced them out': How a '12-year legacy pick' poses an existential threat to moderate GOP

17 July 2024

Before 2024 GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump picked Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio) as his running mate, some Republican strategists were hoping he would go with North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum or Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Florida). Either Burgum or Rubio, they argued, would make the ticket more appealing to independents and traditional conservatives.

But Trump went ultra-MAGA when he chose Vance, who considered himself a Never Trump conservative during the 2016 election and was a scathing critic of Trump back then.

The "Hillbilly Elegy" author has since remade himself as a MAGA firebrand, and he has become a prominent figure in the MAGA movement even though critics often slam him as a cynical flip-flopper.

On Monday, July 15 — the opening day of the 2024 Republican National Convention — conservative Virginia-based radio host John Fredericks spoke to CNN and laid out some reasons why Trump went with Vance rather than Burgum, Rubio or Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin.

Fredericks described Vance as a "12-year legacy pick," arguing that Trump's decision "ended" Youngkin's "presidential aspirations."

The radio host told CNN, "You can forget about Youngkin. Trump iced them all out. This is his legacy. He knows it. He has four years and he's done. So, he needs someone to continue that legacy. That's why he picked J.D. Vance."

CNN's Steve Contorno stresses that when Vance speaks at the convention on Wednesday, July 17, he "will do so not only as the party's vice-presidential nominee, but as its MAGA heir-in-waiting."

"In tapping a 39-year-old first-term senator from the country's heartland over more experienced Republicans with deeper party ties," Contorno explains, "Trump is looking ahead to the future of his political movement. Those close to Trump say he is looking to Vance to lead the party beyond his time in office, an expectation he never seriously harbored for his previous vice president, Mike Pence."

Read CNN's full report at this link.

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