Reactions pour in after Trump chooses JD Vance as his running mate

Former President Donald Trump has chosen his running mate for the presidential election, and while his Republican colleagues share words of support, Democrats haven't held back their words of disdain.

Trump announced Ohio Sen. JD Vance as his pick for vice president in a post on Truth Social Monday, just as the Republican National Convention was getting underway in Milwaukee.

"J.D. has had a very successful business career in Technology and Finance, and now, during the Campaign, will be strongly focused on the people he fought so brilliantly for, the American Workers and Farmers in Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, Ohio, Minnesota, and far beyond," Trump wrote.

RELATED STORY | Donald Trump picks Sen. JD Vance as VP running mate

Meanwhile, the Biden-Harris campaign has asserted Trump's choice wasn't made for the American people but for his own personal benefit.

"Donald Trump picked J.D. Vance as his running mate because Vance will do what Mike Pence wouldn't on January 6: bend over backwards to enable Trump and his extreme MAGA agenda, even if it means breaking the law and no matter the harm to the American people," the statement read.

The statement goes on to allege Vance will "make it his mission to enact Trump's Project 2025 agenda," support a nationwide abortion ban, rally against the Affordable Care Act and cut taxes for billionaires which will "send prices skyrocketing for everyone else."

A heap of videos were posted to the Biden-Harris headquarters' X page after the announcement to support the campaign's assertions, with Vance saying in one clip that he thinks Trump should fire "every civil servant in the administrative state, replace them with our people" — a point made in the 922-page Project 2025 proposal.

RELATED STORY | Project 2025: Dismantle Dept. of Education, cut taxes and restrict abortion

Project 2025, organized by conservative think tank the Heritage Foundation and supported by more than 100 other right-leaning organizations, is seen as a playbook for the "next conservative president," whom the group has said it believes will be Trump.

President Biden and the Democratic Party have warned on the website TrumpsProject2025.com that the "blueprint for Trump to implement if he wins a second term" would take away reproductive freedom, consolidate power in the Oval Office, cut checks and balances and more.

Trump claimed this month to "know nothing" about Project 2025 or its authors. However, in April 2022, the former president spoke at a Heritage Foundation gala saying the group is "going to lay the groundwork and detail plans for exactly what our movement will do and what your movement will do when the American people give us a colossal mandate to save America."

As for Vance, Kevin Roberts, the president of the Heritage Foundation, told Politico in March that the Ohio senator "is absolutely going to be one of the leaders — if not the leader — of our movement."

The Democratic Party's official X account also mentioned Vance in relation to Project 2025 after the vice presidential announcement, calling him an "ultra-MAGA extremist who's ready to help Trump pass his Project 2025 agenda."

President Biden's personal X account reposted a graphic from the Biden-Harris HQ page also linking Vance to Project 2025 and says the Ohio senator opposes marriage equality, that he compared abortion to slavery and "kisses up to Putin and Russia."

Another post on the account, featuring a link to President Biden's fundraising page, said, "Here's the deal about J.D. Vance. He talks a big game about working people. But now, he and Trump want to raise taxes on middle-class families while pushing more tax cuts for the rich. Well I don't intend to let them. And if you're with me, pitch in."

A Biden-Harris campaign official said Vice President Kamala Harris reached out to Vance after the announcement "and left a message to congratulate him on his selection, welcome him to the race and express her hope that the two can meet in the vice presidential debate proposed by CBS News."

"Over the next three and a half months, we will spend every single day making the case between the two starkly contrasting visions Americans will choose between at the ballot box this November: the Biden-Harris ticket who's focused on uniting the country, creating opportunity for everyone, and lowering costs; or Trump-Vance – whose harmful agenda will take away Americans' rights, hurt the middle class, and make life more expensive – all while benefiting the ultra-rich and greedy corporations," the Biden-Harris campaign statement concluded.

Meanwhile, the Republican Party praised the president's pick, with even those who were considered front-runners for the job singing praises.

One of those is Florida Sen. Marco Rubio who said in a post on X that Vance is a "fantastic choice."

And North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, also seen as a top pick, said Vance's "small town roots and service to country make him a powerful voice for the America First Agenda." The Republican also said he was looking forward to campaigning for the ticket.

House Speaker Mike Johnson said Vance will "help President Trump deliver a government worthy of the people it is supposed to serve" with his "profound understanding of the anxieties of working families," "lived experience" and "policy expertise."

And former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy said he has "rock-solid conviction" that Trump made an "outstanding" choice. He also said in a post on X that he believes Trump-Vance will be "the most formidable presidential ticket of my lifetime."

Vance's Ohio colleague, Republican Gov. Mike DeWine, said in a poston X that the senator will "bring a new generational perspective to the ticket." He also said Trump made a "great choice, and Sen. Vance will be a great partner as they campaign together this fall."