Former US President Donald Trump’s choice of J.D. Vance as his vice-presidential running mate means that if President Joe Biden stays in the election race then a Catholic will be first or second in command of the world’s greatest superpower following the US election in November.
Vance joins the Republican ticket as an avowed Catholic convert, baptised and received into the Catholic Church in 2019.
And of course, on the Democratic ticket, Biden is a lifelong Catholic. If Trump is elected in November, Vance will become the nation’s second Catholic vice president after Biden himself, who became the first when he served under Barack Obama from 2009 to 2017.
Before Biden in 2009, there were five other vice-presidential candidates who were Catholic: Republican William Miller in 1964, Democrat Ed Muskie in 1968, Democrat Thomas Eagleton in 1972, Democrat Sargent Shriver in 1972, and Democrat Geraldine Ferraro in 1984.
The announcement was made at the Republican Convention on 15 July that Trump has chosen Vance, a first-term Ohio Senator, as his vice-presidential running mate. On his social media platform <em>Truth Social </em>the former president said that Vance is “the person best suited” to assume the vice president role.
“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.
A former marine, Vance grew up in Jackson, Kentucky, and Middletown, Ohio, and first rose to prominence in 2016 through his best-selling memoir <em>Hillbilly Elegy</em>, in which he described a childhood of poverty and abuse.
In a 2019 interview with <a href="https://www.theamericanconservative.com/j-d-vance-becomes-catholic/"><em><mark style="background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)" class="has-inline-color has-vivid-cyan-blue-color">The American Conservative</mark></em></a>, Vance revealed that he grew up Christian, but said that many of the people he looked up to the most were Catholic, which was a key factor in his decision to join the Catholic Church as an adult.
Unlike Biden, Vance aligns with the Church in his pro-life stance against abortion. Though more recently he has – <a href="https://catholicherald.co.uk/donald-trump-says-his-goal-is-cross-party-abortion-compromise-that-includes-exceptions/?swcfpc=1"><mark style="background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)" class="has-inline-color has-vivid-cyan-blue-color">like Trump</mark></a> – shifted his public stance on the issue, which has included his supporting “reasonable exceptions” to abortion bans. <br><br><strong>RELATED: <a href="https://catholicherald.co.uk/super-tuesday-puts-catholics-in-even-tighter-spot-can-you-vote-in-good-conscience-for-either-presidential-candidate/"><mark style="background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)" class="has-inline-color has-vivid-cyan-blue-color">‘Super Tuesday’ puts Catholics in even tighter spot: Can you vote in good conscience for either presidential candidate?</mark></a></strong>
Vance also doesn’t always directly align with Church teachings on other issues, such as immigration and the environment.
Vance supports the completion of Trump’s border wall, decries the number of illegal immigrants who have entered the country in recent years, and has previously said he “opposes every attempt to grant amnesty” to illegal immigrants. On environmental issues, Vance has downplayed the threat of climate change.<br><br>On the same day as the announcement was made about Vance, and as very much expected, Trump received enough delegate votes to officially become the Republican’s nominee to become the next president of the United States. <br><br><strong>RELATED: <a href="https://catholicherald.co.uk/trump-appoints-firebrand-pro-life-catholic-as-vp-running-mate-and-political-heir/?swcfpc=1"><mark style="background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)" class="has-inline-color has-vivid-cyan-blue-color">Trump appoints ‘firebrand’ pro-life Catholic as VP running mate and political heir</mark></a></strong>
<em>Photo: Republican presidential candidate, former U.S. President Donald Trump and Republican Vice Presidential candidate, U.S. Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH) shake hands on the first day of the Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, 15 July 2024. (Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images.)</em>
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