The New York Times: “What to Know About J. D. Vance, Trump’s Running Mate"

Senator J. D. Vance of Ohio, the newly-announced running mate + running mate: compagno di candidatura to former + former: precedente President Donald Trump, has gone on a rapid journey over the past eight years from bestselling author and outspoken + outspoken: esplicito Trump critic to one of Trump’s staunchest + staunchest: fidato, devoto defenders and, now, his would-be + would-be: aspirante second-in-command.

Before running for office + running for office: candidarsi alle elezioni , Vance, forty, was known as the author of Hillbilly + SPEAK UP EXPLAINS "Montanaro". È un termine colloquiale e generalmente dispregiativo per le persone di basso livello socio-culturale che vivono nelle aree rurali, in particolare nella regione che comprende gran parte dei Monti Appalachi (Pennsylvania, Georgia, Alabama e Missouri). Sebbene sia spesso associato a stereotipi di bassa cultura e mancanza di istruzione, Vance lo rivendica come un nome collettivo con una forte identità culturale propria.  Elegy, a bestselling memoir recounting his upbringing + upbringing: educazione in a poor family that also served as a sort of sociological examination of white working-class Americans. The book was published the summer before Trump’s election in 2016, and many readers looked to it after his victory as a sort of guide to understanding Trump’s support among white working-class communities.

Vance harshly + harshly: severamente denounced Trump during his 2016 campaign. But by 2022, he had embraced Trump, winning a crowded Republican Senate primary with his backing + backing: appoggio and becoming a reliable pro-Trump voice in Congress.

Here is more on Vance’s background and views: Personal background: He was born in Middletown, Ohio, and spent part of his childhood in Jackson, Kentucky, raised by his maternal grandparents as his mother struggled with drug addiction, before returning to Middletown. After high school, he enlisted in the Marines and was deployed + to deploy: schierare to Iraq, doing public affairs work. He later attended Ohio State University and Yale Law School.

Career in finance: Vance worked for conservative venture capitalist Peter Thiel before founding his own venture capital firm. + SPEAK UP EXPLAINS venture capital firm "Società di capitale di rischio". Si tratta di fondi di investimento specializzati in start-up e piccole imprese ad alto potenziale di crescita. Il termine venture allude alla natura ‘avventurosa’ (o piuttosto ‘rischiosa’) associata a questo tipo di investimento. Thiel donated millions of dollars to Vance’s 2022 Senate campaign.

Hillbilly Elegy: The timing of his book, published the year that Trump was elected, helped raise his profile. He argued that a lack of personal agency was responsible for economic suffering, drug abuse and other struggles in white working-class communities like his, and wrote of “a willingness + willingness: volontà  to blame + to blame: culpare everyone but yourself.” Since aligning himself with Trump, he has turned his blame toward outside sources, such as offshoring + offshoring: delocalizzazione and immigration.

Criticism of Trump: During the 2016 campaign, Vance sharply + sharply: bruscamente criticized Trump, describing him as “cultural heroin” and as a demagogue who was “leading the white working class to a very dark place.” He described himself as “a Never Trump guy.” In a Twitter post that he has since deleted, he called Trump “reprehensible” because he “makes people I care about afraid: immigrants, Muslims, etc.”

Senate campaign: After deciding to run for Senate in 2022, he recast + to recast: riadattare  himself as an unflinching + unflinching: deciso, risoluto Trump supporter. Vance apologized for denouncing Trump, adopted his hard-line stances + hard-line stances: posizioni estremiste on immigration and other issues, and won Trump’s endorsement + endorsement: appoggio, sostegno . He has said Trump’s term + term: mandato in the White House proved his opposition wrong + to prove wrong: dimostrare che è sbagliata . He also said in 2019 that “Trump’s popularity in the Vance household went up substantially” because of Brett Kavanaugh’s Supreme Court confirmation hearings + hearings: udienze , during which the judge — whom Trump had nominated and for whom Vance’s wife had clerked + to clerk: lavorare come assistente — was accused of sexual assault.

Election denial: He has not committed + to commit: impegnarsi  to accepting the results of this year’s election. “If we have a free and fair election, I will accept the results,” he said on CNN in May. It’s a caveat + caveat: avvertimento that many Republicans have used, leaving the door open to the notion of foul play + foul play: gioco sporco and helping to sow + to sow: seminare doubt in advance. In February, he told ABC News that if he had been vice president on 6 January 2021, he would not have certified the election as Mike Pence did, but would have “told the states, like Pennsylvania, Georgia and so many others, that we needed to have multiple slates + slates: liste of electors, and I think the U.S. Congress should have fought over it from there.” 

Published in The New York Times on 15 July 2024. Reprinted with permission.