President Trump Encourages Former Rival To Replace JD Vance

President Trump has reportedly encouraged former presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy to consider an appointment to Ohio’s vacant U.S. Senate seat.

Ohio Governor Mike DeWine will have to pick a replacement for JD Vance in the upcoming weeks.

Vance resigned last week and is set to be sworn in as Vice President.

Ramaswamy previously withdrew his name as a possible Senate appointee but has since met with DeWine and may be reversing his previous decision.

Trump is apparently encouraging Vivek to take JD Vance’s Senate seat, according to the WaPO

Called this back in July

Let Vivek prove himself in office https://t.co/xpZkfQr35C pic.twitter.com/uFYvQRhNRG

— DC_Draino (@DC_Draino) January 15, 2025

Here’s what The Columbus Dispatch reported:

President-elect Donald Trump is urging his former campaign rival, Vivek Ramaswamy, to consider an appointment to Ohio’s vacant U.S. Senate seat, according to a source familiar with the discussions.

Gov. Mike DeWine must pick someone to replace Vice President-elect JD Vance, who resigned his Senate seat last week. The appointee will serve with Sen. Bernie Moreno for two years and must run in November 2026 if he or she wants to keep the seat. The winner of that election will serve the remainder of Vance’s term, which ends in 2028.

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The Washington Post first reported that Ramaswamy is back in the running months after withdrawing his name for consideration. A source familiar with the discussions confirmed to this newspaper’s statehouse bureau that Ramaswamy is considering the position and recently met with DeWine.

Ramaswamy’s reemergence came weeks after he faced blowback for a social media post decrying American “mediocrity” and a culture that reveres sitcom characters like Zach and Slater from “Saved By the Bell.”

BREAKING REPORT: Trump encouraging Vivek to take Ohio Senate seat vacated by JD Vance..

THOUGHTS? pic.twitter.com/xa9eHUyFg3

— Chuck Callesto (@ChuckCallesto) January 15, 2025

Per NBC News:

Vivek Ramaswamy, the biotech entrepreneur positioned to help oversee President-elect Donald Trump’s effort to cut government spending, is in discussions about filling Vice President-elect JD Vance’s Senate seat in Ohio, two people briefed on the process told NBC News.

The development is a reversal for Ramaswamy, who in November said his work alongside billionaire Elon Musk at Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency would remove him from consideration for the Senate job.

But Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, who will appoint an interim successor to take over Vance’s seat, chatted with Ramaswamy about the Senate vacancy in a meeting last weekend at the Governor’s Mansion in Columbus, according to a source familiar with the talks. The source, who was granted anonymity to share details about private conversations, also said Trump has encouraged Ramaswamy to accept the appointment if DeWine offers it.

Trump aides did not respond to requests for comment. Spokespeople for DeWine and Ramaswamy declined to comment.