The Real Changing of the Guard

With Trump picking JD Vance as his running mate, the old Reaganite GOP is now well and truly dead

Elected officials including (L-R) Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH), Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) and Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (R-NY) speak to the media outside of the Criminal Court where former U.S. President Donald Trump is on trial on May 13, 2024 in New York City. (Photo by Stephanie Keith/Getty Images)

I’d seen his name for months on lists of possible running mates for the former president, but I never really thought Donald Trump would go through with picking Ohio Sen. JD Vance. Vance had said some harshly critical things about Trump before he was reborn as a ferocious right-populist. Trump would view his intellect as a threat. The facial hair was a Trump-world no-no. And so forth.

Yet here we are, with Vance set to serve as Trump’s running mate and possible Vice President.

This a very big deal.