Former President Donald Trump (R) announced at the Republican National Convention, held in Milwaukee, Wis., that Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio) will be his running mate.
“Now, more than ever, freedom and liberty need courageous and virtuous defenders,” said Doug Hamlin, NRA Executive Vice President & CEO. “President Trump and Senator Vance have the guts and the grit to stand steadfast for the Second Amendment. On behalf of millions of NRA members, I wish them Godspeed as we head toward this historic election in November.”
In 2016, Vance gained notoriety from his best-selling book Hillbilly Elegy. He even spent a lot of time on CNN after the book’s release explaining the views of small town, middle America after President Trump won the 2016 election in part by appealing to overlooked, working-class voters.
When running for his seat in the U.S. Senate 2022, Vance said, “I will fight the gun grabbers, whether they’re federal bureaucrats enacting regulations or multinational companies punishing people for exercising their rights.” In that race, he defeated former Rep. Tim Ryan (D), who had been endorsed by gun-control groups. At the time, Vance received an endorsement from the NRA Political Victory Fund (NRA-PVF), while Ryan received an “F” rating.
Vance also wrote a column in the early days of his campaign for the Columbus Dispatch in which he slammed President Joe Biden’s (D) nomination of David Chipman to lead the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF)—the NRA also loudly opposed Chipman.
For this and other reasons, Randy Kozuch, chairman of the NRA-PVF, said, “President Trump has made an outstanding choice in selecting Sen. Vance as his vice presidential pick and running mate in the upcoming election. Sen. Vance has been an unwavering supporter of constitutional freedoms, especially the right to keep and bear arms. In the U.S. Senate, he has consistently stood against the Biden-Harris gun-control agenda. Between now and November, the NRA and its millions of members will engage with America’s gun owners about the importance of electing the Trump-Vance ticket.”
The NRA already endorsed Trump earlier this year when he spoke at the 153rd NRA Annual Meetings & Exhibits in Dallas, Texas. “It is a true honor to be here today to receive the endorsement of the proud American patriots at the NRA. These are great patriots. These are great people. We’re going to do things like nobody can believe. We’re going to win this election at levels that nobody has ever seen before. But thank you for that endorsement. It means a lot to me,” said Trump at the event.
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