Former Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski said that J.D. Vance needs to use his address tonight to sell his compelling personal story to voters.
'I think most people don't know him to be very honest,' Lewandowski told DailyMail.com.
'He's an American success story grew up in abject poverty,' the political operative went on. 'Twenty years ago, this guy was living in squalor.'
Vance grew up poor in Ohio. His mother suffered from drug addiction and he was raised largely by his maternal grandparents.
He graduated high school to become a U.S. Marine for four years, before getting an undergraduate degree at Ohio State University and a law degree at Yale.
Former Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski said that J.D. Vance needs to use his address tonight to sell his compelling personal story to voters
In 2016, three years after graduating law school, he wrote the memoir that put him on the map, Hillbilly Elegy.
Now 39, he is a senator from Ohio and Trump's vice presidential pick.
'Only in this great country can you do that. And so I think what you're going to hear is his success story,' Lewandowski went on.
'And I hope that he articulates that under a Trump Vance administration, over the next four years, more people will be able to achieve the American dream.'
Now two Ivy League-educated populist Republicans - with Trump and his University of Pennsylvania degree - will face off against two non-Ivy Democrats.
In 2016, three years after graduating law school, he wrote the memoir that put him on the map, Hillbilly Elegy.
Sen. Marsha Blackburn agreed that Vance's rags-to-riches story would help sell the American dream.
'I think J.D. has one of the most intriguing life stories of any senator,' the Tennessee Republican told DailyMail.com. 'He is just about a perfect nominee.'
She said Vance would bring a 'younger, more libertarian' type of voter into the Republican Party.
Vance has been staunchly against Ukraine aid since the start of the war and argues the U.S. needs to firmly refocus its defense focus on East Asia.
Other more centrist senators were less enthusiastic about Vance as a Trump's pick - though they avoided outright criticism.
Sen. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D., said he was 'pulling' for North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, and not J.D. Vance.
But his selection brings 'younger voters' to the GOP Party, which is an asset moving forward.
Cramer called Vance an 'honest intellectual populist,' with a smile. 'He'll be a fine running mate, and make a fine vice president, and president if necessary.'
'I think most people don't know him to be very honest,' Lewandowski told DailyMail.com
Vance is a vastly different pick than who Trump chose under Lewandowski in 2016 in former Vice President Mike Pence. Pence placed a much higher priority on international alliances and supporting Ukraine.
'Vance means that we're never going to let Americans be forgotten. That we're always going to advocate for ordinary Americans and make sure that they have a good opportunity here in this country,' Bernie Moreno, Ohio Republican Senate candidate, told DailyMail.com.
'We're not going to ship our jobs overseas. We're not going to fight other countries wars. We're not going to rip off American taxpayers for their own personal benefit. I think it solidifies the party of this is the party of a new generation of American leaders.'
