Elizabeth Warren calls Vance faux populist while party says he will ‘take women back decades’ on abortion

Democrats were quick to seize on Donald Trump’s decision to name as his running mate JD Vance, the hard-right Ohio senator whose past opposition to the former president and Republican nominee included calling him “America’s Hitler” but who now supports Trump with fiery populist rhetoric.

A Democratic party statement said: “Vance is an ultra-Maga extremist who’s ready to help Trump pass his Project 2025 agenda. Stop Trump-Vance. Vote Biden-Harris.”

Vance has praised Project 2025, a far-right blueprint for a second Trump term. Trump has tried to distance himself from the effort, which is co-ordinated by the Heritage Foundation. Democrats want to tie him to it.

Joe Biden’s campaign warned that Vance should not be trusted to put country over party, as Mike Pence did as vice-president when, on 6 January 2021, he refused to do as Trump demanded and block certification of Biden’s election win.