Trump backs Vance, says facing Harris wouldn’t have changed his VP pick

Former President Trump is sticking by his choice to elevate Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio) to be his running mate in November, amid a shake-up atop the Democratic ticket.

Trump told “Fox & Friends” Thursday he would not have changed his vice presidential pick, even if he had known ahead of time that President Biden would step aside from the race and Vice President Harris, whom the president endorsed, would become his likely replacement.

“He’s fantastic,” Trump said of Vance. “No it wouldn’t have mattered. And I thought she was probably going to happen anyway.

“[Vance] is doing a fantastic job,” the former president continued. “He’s essentially for the worker. He’s seen the worker be horribly abused and taken advantage of. … He’s doing a great job, and he’s been very well received.”

Trump’s choice of Vance spurred talk that the former president was focused on energizing his base and solidifying the future of the Republican Party more than persuading independent voters. Vance, a first-term senator from Ohio, has been praised as one of the most articulate voices in the America First movement.

The Ohio senator has held rallies in his home state and Virginia, and he is set to hold rallies in Arizona and Nevada — two key battleground states — next week.

Harris, meanwhile, has generated significant enthusiasm since earning Biden’s backing and locking down the support of enough delegates to become the likely Democratic nominee.

Her team has raised more than $100 million in roughly 48 hours, thousands of volunteers have signed up to support the effort and the campaign drew more than 3,000 attendees at a Milwaukee rally earlier this week, which it touted as its largest crowd of the cycle.