Former President Trump said in a new interview that he picked Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio) as his running mate because they had an “automatic chemistry.”
“We’ve always had a good chemistry,” Trump said in an interview aired Monday on Fox News’s “Jesse Waters Primetime” when asked why he selected Vance.
“And, originally, JD was probably not for me,” Trump continued, noting Vance was not a fan of his, “but he didn’t know me. And then when we got to know each other, he liked me more than anybody liked me. And he would stick up for me, and he would fight for the worker as much as I fight for the worker. We just had an automatic chemistry.”
Trump also mentioned his 2022 endorsement of Vance and Vance’s bestselling memoir, “Hillbilly Elegy,” in explaining his selection.
“And I actually endorsed him in Ohio for the Senate, and he ended up winning against a very tough field, very tough field,” Trump said. “And he wrote a book – which was a classic, as you know – and it was all about the working men and women and how they aren’t being treated fairly, and he was right about that. And I understood that maybe better than anyone else. And we just have had a great relationship.”
“He had serious competition. We had tremendous people all of them, every one of them,” Trump added, referring to his shortlist of VP contenders, many of whom have more experience serving in government than Vance.
When Watters noted that Vance “beat out a lot of impressive people,” Vance nodded and repeated, “very impressive people.”
The interview was taped on Saturday, before President Biden exited the race. It is Trump’s first on-camera interview since the shooting and his first on-camera interview with Vance, as his running mate.