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Trump’s Republican vice-president candidates were once critics with key policy differences

  • The shift from one-time critic of the former president to staunch ally is a metamorphosis shared by many of Trump’s potential running mates

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From left, Marco Rubio, Doug Burgum, and Elise Stefanik are potential candidates to be Donald Trump’s running mate. All have all been critical of the former president in the past. (AP Photo)

It’s hard to refer to someone as “Hitler” and end up in their good graces, let alone potentially become the person they choose to help lead the country.

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But Ohio Senator JD Vance’s shifting position on Donald Trump over the years from one-time critic of the former president to staunch ally is a metamorphosis shared by many of Trump’s potential running mates.

It’s not unheard of for a running mate to move beyond past disagreements with a presidential candidate.

Joe Biden had a notably barbed exchange with Kamala Harris in 2020 when both were seeking the Democratic nomination. Biden picked her to be his vice-president anyway.

But the shift is more striking for Trump’s potential running mates, in some cases requiring them to abandon long-held policy positions and recant vehement criticism.

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Here’s a look at some of those shifts:

JD Vance

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