Most Americans unfamiliar with Vance before Trump VP selection: Survey

Most Americans say they didn’t know enough about Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio) to form an opinion before former President Trump named him as his running mate, a new poll found.

The survey, carried out by The Associated Press/NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, was largely conducted before Trump named Vance as his vice presidential nominee.

Trump announced his choice of Vance on Monday, the opening day of the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, after much speculation.

According to the survey, 60 percent of respondents said they “don’t know enough” about Vance to say whether they support him or not. Twenty-two percent of respondents said they have an unfavorable view, and 17 percent said they have a favorable view of the first-term Ohio senator.

The responses didn’t vary much by political party affiliation. Sixty-one percent of Republican respondents said they didn’t know enough about Vance, compared to 66 percent of independents and 56 percent of Democrats.

Eleven percent of both Democrats and independents said they have a favorable view of Vance, while 27 percent of Republicans said the same.

On the flip side, just 11 percent of Republican respondents said they have an unfavorable view of Vance. Twenty-three percent of independent respondents have an unfavorable view of him and 32 percent of Democrats agree.

Vice President Harris receives much more polarizing marks. Forty-three percent of respondents view Harris in a favorable light, while 48 percent have an unfavorable view and 9 percent are undecided.

Nearly 3 in 4 Democrats have a favorable view of Harris, while 84 percent of Republicans have an unfavorable opinion of her.

The survey was conducted July 11-15 among 1,253 adults and has a margin of error of 3.8 percentage points.