Sen. JD Vance acknowledged Wednesday that he will feel a “little bit of disappointment” if former President Donald Trump doesn’t select him for vice president on the 2024 Republican ticket.
“There’s certainly going to be a little bit of disappointment. But I think the bigger thing is, it’s such a cool thing to get to do the job that I do,” Vance (R-Ohio) told “Fox & Friends” in response to speculation about his place in the 78-year-old Trump’s veepstakes.
The 39-year-old added that he would be “fine” if he doesn’t get offered the No. 2 spot and conveyed gratitude for being considered.
“My best guess is, they’re looking at me, and they’re looking at a lot of other people, too, and they’ll ask me if they ask me, and if they don’t, that’s fine,” Vance said.
Vance previously confirmed that he has been vetted by the Trump campaign and has been rumored to be among the top four contenders for the running mate spot, along with Senate colleagues Marco Rubio of Florida and Tim Scott of South Carolina, as well as North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum.
Trump teased over the weekend that he had already made up his mind regarding who he will tap as a running mate, saying “nobody knows” who it will be.
The 45th president has long said that a formal announcement would come by or at next month’s Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, but he also suggested that his future running mate would be present in Atlanta for Thursday’s debate.
Burgum, Rubio and Vance are all scheduled to appear at a debate watch party hosted by the Trump campaign. Scott is expected to be one of the Republican surrogates in the post-forum spin room.
Should Vance ultimately win the role, he contends, the senator will be prepared for a wave of Democratic attacks that would likely follow.
“I grew up in a poor family, and I was raised in a working-class community,” he said Wednesday. “So I do think there’s something about my biography that makes it a little bit harder for these guys to attack me, and maybe that’s why they fear me.”
“I just go out and try to do the best I can, and if they’re afraid of me it’s because I’ll take it.”
Vance had been vocally critical of Trump during the 2016 election cycle, but now has emerged as one of the former president’s top allies in the Senate and a populist favorite of former first son Donald Trump Jr.
“It’s about the success of Trump’s presidency. But I also think his presidency revealed, at least to me, how corrupt the media was. It taught me a very important lesson about how the media lies,” Vance explained.
Vance’s wife Usha joined the interview from their Ohio home and reflected on the shock of her husband entering politics.
“It was so different than anything we had ever done before,” Usha recalled. “But it was an adventure, and so I guess the way that I’d put it is I’m not raring to change anything about our lives right now. But I believe in JD and I love him. So we’ll just sort of see what happens with our lives. We’re open.”
If Vance were to get the veep role, he would have little time to prepare before squaring off with Vice President Kamala Harris in a debate hosted by CBS News. No date has been announced, but July 23 and Aug. 13 have been floated as options.
“I actually do know what I believe, and I’m not afraid to say, ‘Look, I was wrong or I was right about this issue,’ but it’s not talking points with me,” he said. “Politicians are really good at saying things very well, but not actually saying anything at all. But that’s the Kamala Harris problem, right?
“I just listened to her for 10 minutes, and she didn’t say anything.”
