Tesla billionaire Elon Musk, former Fox News host Tucker Carlson, and venture capitalist David Sacks personally lobbied Donald Trump to select JD Vance as his running mate, according to Axios.
The 39-year-old Ohio senator was named the GOP nominee for Vice President of the United States on Monday.
Trump told friends that Vance was his top choice several days before the announcement was made, Axios cofounder Mike Allen wrote in the publication’s newsletter on Tuesday.
However, Vance only found out he would be Trump’s running mate moments before the former president shared the news on Truth Social, according to multiple people familiar with the call speaking to CNN,
The two runners-up — North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum and Sen. Marco Rubio— are believed to have been informed at around midday on Monday.
Axios said that a secret lobbying campaign continued into Monday morning, led by key figures such as Musk, Carlson, and Sacks.
The publication didn’t elaborate on their involvement in Trump’s selection. Business Insider could not verify the report.
According to CNN, Vance had the backing of Carlson who thought he would appeal to working-class voters. Meanwhile, Carlson’s former Fox News boss, Rupert Murdoch, lobbied Trump to choose Burgum.
Sacks also influenced Trump’s decision after being introduced to the former president by Vance, who is himself a former venture capitalist, the publication said.
Speaking to Axios, Carlson said Vance was the clear choice because “he doesn’t secretly hate Trump, as all the rest of them do.”
“He fundamentally agrees with Trump. That’s precisely why neocon donors [who want more aid for Ukraine] fear him,” he said.
Vance was one of 18 senators who attempted to block a $95 billion aid package to Ukraine and Israel earlier this year.
Though the package was ultimately approved, Vance told reporters that his actions made “it pretty clear to Europe and the rest of the world that America can’t write blank checks indefinitely,” according to Politico.
As BI previously reported, Vance was also a vocal proponent of the Federal Trade Commission’s antitrust enforcement of Big Tech companies.
Musk publicly congratulated Vance on Monday, writing on X that it was an “excellent decision” by Trump.
Sacks reposted Musk’s comments and wrote in a follow-up post that Vance was an “American patriot.”
“When the Twin Towers came down, JD Vance enlisted in the Marine Corps, gung-ho to exact justice on America’s enemies,” Sacks wrote on X.
“Subsequently he came to believe the Forever Wars were a mistake. This is who I want by Trump’s side: an American patriot, with the courage to fight America’s wars but the wisdom to know when to avoid them. God bless JD, God bless Trump, and God bless the USA.”
Vance went from being a Trump critic who once called him “America’s Hitler,” to a loyal supporter of the former president.
“I was certainly skeptical of Donald Trump in 2016, but President Trump was a great president and he changed my mind,” Vance said in an interview with Fox News’ Sean Hannity on Monday.
“I bought into the media’s lies and distortions,” he added.
Representatives for Donald Trump, JD Vance, Elon Musk, Tucker Carlson, and David Sacks did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
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