Three black pickup trucks with U.S. government license plates were spotted at the home of Ohio senator and presumptive vice presidential candidate JD Vance on Saturday.
Aides have let it be known that Vance, North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum and Sen. Marco Rubio are on a three-candidate shortlist as they anticipate an announcement ahead of the Republican Party convention next week.
Vance, a big favorite of Trump’s MAGA base, saw the extra protection at home following the assassination attempt on Trump that the former president miraculously survived, and Vance blamed Joe Biden for the rhetoric that led up to it.
Some There was speculation on social media Noticing that the black trucks could be Secret Service agents, many wondered if Vance had officially won the vice presidential election.
Trump is expected to make the announcement at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee this week.
Vance, a big favorite among Trump’s MAGA base, saw the extra protection at home following the assassination attempt on Trump that the former president miraculously survived, and Vance blamed Joe Biden for the rhetoric that led up to the attempt.
Three black pickup trucks with U.S. government license plates were spotted at the home of Ohio senator and suspected vice presidential candidate JD Vance on Saturday.
However, while it was not clear why the additional security had been requested, one report suggested it was not the Secret Service and had nothing to do with whether Vance was going to be Trump’s vice president.
‘A source familiar with the matter says it is NOT the Secret Service, it is not related to the vice presidential election and that the presence is strictly precautionary after yesterday.’ NBC News reported.
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine would only say that Ohio State Highway Patrol and ATF agents were dispatched to Vance’s home, according to WLWT.
The request was approved around 6:40 p.m. local time on Saturday afternoon, about 25 minutes after Trump was shot.
“For safety reasons, the patrol does not discuss specific details related to security operations,” OSHP said in a statement.
It is unclear whether the other rumored vice presidential front-runners have been provided with security at their homes, or whether fellow Ohio senator Sherrod Brown has been afforded the same.
A spokesman for DeWine, a Republican like Vance, would not say whether there was any specific threat against the senator or the motive behind it.
Vance has not yet made any public comment on the security details.
Ohio Sen. JD Vance blamed Biden’s ‘rhetoric’ in X-rated post after Donald Trump assassination attempt
One report suggested it was not the Secret Service and had nothing to do with whether Vance would be Trump’s vice president.
He has been seen as a potential front-runner to be Trump’s running mate in recent days after it was confirmed that Trump’s son Don Jr., who is an ally of Vance, would speak before the vice presidential nominee at the convention.
His supporters, who include the likes of Trump Jr. and former Fox News host Tucker Carlson, say he brings a deep connection to the Rust Belt states that could decide the election, a personal story that embodies the American dream and the kind of television skills essential to the president’s No. 1 defender.
Critics accuse him of being a political chameleon, selling his “Never Trump” credentials at the first glimmer of power.
Either way, it marks an extraordinary rise for a 39-year-old man raised in crushing poverty in southern Ohio by his heroin-addicted mother and ferocious grandmother.
His 2016 memoir, “Hillbilly Elegy,” catapulted him to literary and political fame, establishing him as the kind of white, working-class author who could decode Trump and his appeal to an incomprehensible liberal and conservative establishment.
The book painted an evocative portrait of a forgotten American, even as it continued to warn that Trump himself was like an opioid, an “easy escape from pain.”
As his opponents have gleefully pointed out, he repeatedly criticized Trump while promoting his first book, describing himself as a “never Trump guy” and explaining why the New York real estate developer and television star was “unfit for our nation’s highest office” in a New York Times article.
Vance has become one of Trump’s most visible defenders on television and a hero of the hardline MAGA movement with his “America First” message of economic nationalism.
Vance has become one of Trump’s most visible defenders on television and a hero of the hardline MAGA movement with his message of America First economic nationalism.
It is unclear whether the other rumored vice presidential front-runners have been provided with security at their homes, or whether fellow Ohio senator Sherrod Brown has been afforded the same.
Whether or not he is named Trump’s running mate, he is expected to play a major role at this week’s Republican National Convention as the former president attempts to make a once-improbable turnaround to unify the nation after the shooting.
Trump flew to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on Sunday night in a show of defiance that he has already returned to work.
He spent Sunday calling world leaders, journalists and allies before announcing that the attack would not take him out of his busy schedule.
But at the same time, his advisers have quietly made clear that the convention — expected to be a raucous and provocative coronation for the Democratic nominee — should be a more low-key affair.
Starting with the president’s own speech.
“The speech I was going to give on Thursday was going to be spectacular,” he said. Washington Examiner.
‘If this had not happened, this would have been one of the most incredible speeches directed primarily at President Joe Biden’s policies.
“Honestly, it will be a totally different speech now,” he added.
He is expected to make his first public appearance on Monday, when he may (or may not) announce his vice presidential pick before his big speech on the final night of the convention.