Here's What Trump Said When Asked If He Regrets Picking Vance as VP Against New Opponent Harris

When Donald Trump chose JD Vance as his running mate, POTUS Joe Biden was still in the 2024 presidential race. However, on Sunday, July 21, 2024, the United States elections pivoted to unchartered waters when the 81-year-old abandoned his re-election bid and endorsed his VP Kamala Harris for president. So, does Trump regret choosing Vance? Here's what he said. 

"No regrets," said Trump while speaking to reporters on a briefing call on Tuesday, July 23, 2024. After Biden turned the 2024 elections upside down by dropping out of the race, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee is now faced with a candidate Harris who's 20 years younger than him. So, is Vance still the best choice for his running mate? 

The 78-year-old politician brushed off any warnings whatsoever, and said he'd still have chosen Vance even if he knew Harris would take the charge, "I'd do the same thing and he's doing really well. He's really kind of caught on," as per Daily Mail. 

The Republican front-runner announced his VP pick shortly after he survived a potential assassination attempt on July 13 during his Butler, Pennsylvania rally. After receiving medical aid, he appeared on the first day of the Republican National Convention, introducing Vance as his running mate to MAGA supporters, family, and his closest allies. 

On his Truth Social platform, he explained his decision to choose the 39-year-old marine veteran, "After lengthy deliberation and thought, and considering the tremendous talents of many others, I have decided that the person best suited to assume the position of Vice President of the United States is Senator J.D. Vance. As Vice President, J.D. will continue to fight for our Constitution, stand with our Troops, and will do everything he can to help me MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN." 

The Ohio senator is a true MAGA loyalist and a staunch Trump supporter. After receiving his party's formal nomination during the RNC, he criticized Biden's campaign, blaming them for the assassination attempt of the MAGA leader, "The central premise of the Biden campaign is that President Donald Trump is an authoritarian fascist who must be stopped at all costs. That rhetoric led directly to President Trump's attempted assassination," as per AP News. 

But, according to a tweet by The Atlantic's Tim Alberta, the Republican allies of Trump have been second-guessing the selection of Vance as VP ahead of Biden's exit and Harris' candidacy. Attaching the outlet's article titled, This is Exactly What the Trump Feared, he captioned, "Most striking thing I heard from Trump allies yesterday was the second-guessing of JD Vance—a selection, they acknowledged, that was borne of cockiness, meant to run up margins with the base in a blowout rather than persuade swing voters in a nail-biter." 

Meanwhile, four political scientists told Business Insider that Trump's campaign has legitimate reasons to be worried since Harris is now on board. Thomas Gift, director of UCL's Centre on US Politics, weighed in, "Doubling down on mobilizing the MAGA base for a candidate who already has the base eating out of the palm of his hand never seemed like the best tactical play." 

The author of The Politics of Hate and a professor of politics at the University of Manchester, Angelia R. Wilson, echoed that Harris will likely expose their weaknesses, and since they can no longer use the same "old age" rhetoric, they'd have to redefine their campaign strategy only months before November elections.