Trump releases first campaign ad after picking JD Vance for VP

Former President Donald Trump's first campaign ad featuring his vice-presidential pick, Senator JD Vance of Ohio, was released on the opening day of the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee.

This followed Trump's announcement of Vance as his VP candidate and their joint appearance at the convention, marking Trump’s first public appearance since the recent assassination attempt.

The ad, released on Wednesday, criticises the criminal charges Trump faces and vows to "obliterate the deep state."

While Vance does not appear in the ad, it ends with both candidates' names above the slogan "Make America Great Again." Trump asserts, “They’re not coming after me. They’re coming after you, and I just happen to be standing in their way.”

In response, the Biden-Harris 2024 campaign released an ad addressing Vance's position on the Republican ticket.

It features Hadley Duvall, a woman from Kentucky who became pregnant at 12 after being raped by her stepfather, who says, “Trump and JD Vance don’t care about women. They don’t care about girls in this situation. They will continue to take our rights away.”

Read Once a fierce critic, now Trump's running mate: Who is JD Vance?

The Lincoln Project, an anti-Trump Republican group, also released an ad combining Trump's recitation of “The Snake” with Vance's past anti-Trump comments, including calling Trump "America's Hitler" in 2016.

Vice President Kamala Harris has agreed to three potential debate dates with Vance on CBS News. The Trump-Vance campaign has not yet accepted, citing uncertainty over the Democratic ticket amid pressure for Biden to drop out.

Donald Trump selected JD Vance, a Republican US senator from Ohio, as his running mate on July 15, elevating a politician who once criticized the former president in acid terms but has since become one of his most stalwart defenders.

Vance himself was harshly critical of Trump before and after Trump's 2016 election win against Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, calling him an "idiot" and "America's Hitler," among other epithets.

However, as Vance geared up to run for the US Senate in Ohio in 2022, he transformed into one of the former president's most consistent defenders, supporting Trump even when some Senate colleagues declined to do so.

The news, carried on Trump's Truth Social media website, emerged at the start of the four-day Republican National Convention in Milwaukee to nominate the party's presidential ticket.