JD Vance’s Republican colleagues defend Trump’s running mate saying Ohio senator is a voice for next generation of GOP voters

In the weeks since becoming Donald Trump’s chosen running mate, freshman senator JD Vancehas found himself caught in the middle of major test for a shifting Republican Party: Can a young lawmaker who represents the most populist voices in the party actually catapult Republicans to victory, or are he and his message still a liability that could cost Donald Trump the White House?

JD Vance’s Republican colleagues in the Senate say they’re largely sticking with the Ohio freshman – despite newly resurfaced comments facing criticism – warning that Vance represents where Republican see their voters moving. In the weeks since becoming Donald Trump’s chosen running mate, Vance has found himself caught in the middle of major test for a shifting Republican Party: Can a young lawmaker who represents the most populist voices in the party actually catapult Republicans to victory? Or are he and his message still a liability that could cost Trump the White House? Since he was tapped as Trump’s running mate, Vance’s stumbles and past statements – from attacks on “childless cat ladies” to proposing to raise taxes on those without children – have been billed as out of touch with the mainstream. His foreign policy positions are seen as on the fringe for old guard Republicans who have spent decades exposing the virtues of the United States’ role in the world. But most Republican senators have said they’re sticking with Vance. “There is value that comes from experience, but generations are changing. The way people look at the world and the things they know are different than the people who have been here longer,” GOP Sen. Jerry Moran of Kansas said. “I think there is a time for turning the page.” Trump’s selection of Vance as his running mate set up the 40-year-old Ohio senator as the heir apparent to Trump’s brand of Republicanism that has transformed the Republican Party over the past eight years. For many in the Republican Party, Trump’s populist and isolationist impulses were often met with an eye-roll, especially during his first term when GOP lawmakers were constantly forced to comment on Trump’s latest policy stance issued via tweet.