J.D. Vance has been announced as Donald Trump’s pick for Vice President following months of speculation over who will be his running mate – despite his beard problem.
The Ohio Senator, who has been in office for less than two years, was on the shortlist along with North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum helms a state with a population (780,000 people) smaller than Columbus, Ohio (908,000). Florida Sen. Marco Rubio has been in politics for decades and is in his third term in the Senate.
However, both Burgum and Rubio were told hours before the announcement that they had not been picked.
Making the announcement on Truth Social, Trump wrote: “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.
“J.D. honorably served our Country in the Marine Corps, graduated from Ohio State University in two years, Summa Cum Laude, and is a Yale Law School Graduate, where he was Editor of The Yale Law Journal, and President of the Yale Law Veterans Association.
“J.D.’s book, “Hillbilly Elegy,” became a Major Best Seller and Movie, as it championed the hardworking men and women of our Country.
“J.D. has had a very successful business career in Technology and Finance, and now, during the Campaign, will be strongly focused on the people he fought so brilliantly for, the American Workers and Farmers in Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, Ohio, Minnesota, and far beyond…”
However, former Rep. Adam Kinzinger said Vance should have been “disqualified” from serving as vice president for his response to the attempted assassination of Trump on Saturday.
Vance said on social media that the shooting was “not some isolated incident” and suggested President Biden’s campaign was, at least in part, at fault.
Trump is a big fan of political newcomer Vance, a venture capitalist who has been serving as the junior senator from Ohio since 2023.
But there were claims he might not be chosen due to his facial hair.
“J.D. has a beard. But Trump is a clean-shaven guy. He just doesn’t like facial hair,” a Trump confidant told The Bulwark. “You just never know.”
The simple solution would be to tell Vance to shave, but that allegedly comes with a new problem.
The insider claims it’s probably out of the question because of Vance’s youthful appearance, adding: “Without the beard, Vance looks like he’s 12.”
Officials say Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania — about 50 miles (80 kilometers) from the shooting — first came to law enforcement’s attention when spectators at the Trump rally noticed him acting strangely outside the event.
Specifically, he was pacing near the magnetometers, according to a law enforcement official who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the investigation.
The gunman made it to a nearby roof with an AR-style rifle and a local law enforcement officer climbed to the roof and found Crooks, who pointed the rifle at the officer, Butler County Sheriff Michael Slupe told The Associated Press. The officer retreated down the ladder, and the gunman quickly fired toward Trump.
Trump was showing off a chart of border crossing numbers when the gunfire began.
