Indian Americans welcome J.D. Vance as Trump’s running mate

Trump announced his pick on July 15.

Shivangi and Antani / Courtesy Photo, X @NirajAntani

Eminent Indian American doctor Sampat Shivangi and Ohio State Senator Niraj Antani expressed their support for Donald Trump’s vice presidential candidate, J.D. Vance.

Despite his initial surprise at the announcement, Sampat Shivangi welcomed Vance as the vice presidential nominee of the US. He said that Vance at 39-year-old will set precedent for the prospect of a young vice president, a scenario not commonly seen before.

“I am also happy because if he wins, we have another Indian-American vice-presidency mansion. His wife, Usha Chilukuri, she's a brilliant person. Both of them are, I think, very devoted. I feel Vance will bring new ideas and hope for the US and maybe the world,” the physician said.

Shivangi believes that Ohio native Vance’s background and his struggle as someone from the middle-class will resonate with many voters and aid President Trump in his re-election bid. “I think he can bring a large chunk of votes from Ohio because Ohio is one of the biggest states in the country.”

“The idea was to elect and select him because he can bring middle-class, low-middle-class votes. After all, he comes from a very ordinary family. His grandparents brought him up and now he came up with the Yale Law School degree and being a Senator is not a joke. So he has the acumen. I think we should respect that and support him in all ways,” Shivangi added.

Republican State Senator from Ohio, Niraj Antani expressed enthusiasm for Senator Vance's nomination as the vice presidential candidate, noting that many are pleased with President Trump's choice.

“We're all very excited for Senator Vance to be the vice presidential nominee. We're very happy that President Trump picked him. A lot of us are friends with him (Vance) and have been close to him for many years and we're all very excited for him,” Antani said. “We think Senator Vance has done a great job in Ohio and he'll be able to do that across the country,” Antani added.

Reiterating his support for Trump, Antani said “Democrats have bad policies for Indian American physicians, hotel owners. And then on a foreign policy side, we want a strong U.S.-India relationship and I think that'll be under President Trump.”