Editor, News-Register:

The recent selection of JD Vance by former president and current 2024 Republican presidential nominee Donald J. Trump as his vice presidential running mate is most curious and somewhat troubling indeed.

Senator Vance, who has only served in elected office for approximately one and one-half years, has been a well known national celebrity as a result of his authoring the best selling memoir, “Hillbilly Elegy,” which documents his personal ascent from what he has described as a dysfunctional working class family.

In spite of what Vance has described as his humble beginnings, he graduated from Yale Law School and enjoyed a career as a venture capitalist, became a successful author, later winning his seat representing Ohio in the U.S. Senate, and now has recently been selected as the vice presidential nominee on the Republican ticket — in spite of his near total lack of experience in government at any level. Perhaps Mr. Trump sees much of the 39-year-old Vance in himself due to the unquestionable national celebrity status they both have long shared. However, this mutual admiration between Vance and Trump, which is currently widely highlighted, has only recently materialized, as for many years prior, Vance had been a harsh critic of Trump. Prior to Vance’s conversion to being a Trump supporter, he was very outspoke in his criticism of Mr. Trump, referring to Trump as America’s Hitler, as a truly bad man and as a morally reprehensible individual, in addition to a multitude of other such epithets, defaming his now presidential running mate,

Most assuredly, it became apparent to Vance that in order to gain success in the current Republican Party, one must pledge and practice absolute allegiance to the former president and relinquish any and all vestiges of personal integrity and decorum. Vance also refers to women without children, inexplicably, as “childless cat ladies.”

For quite some time, it appeared that no serious candidate for such high office in our great country would be the cause of such colossal concern and controversy. But Vance, quite obviously, appears to be yet another sycophant from such a disparaging ilk in these most troubling of times who are willing to shamelessly cast themselves in the Trump mold for purely selfish political reasons.

Richard Hord

Martins Ferry