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Canine Compadre Joins Vance on Campaign Trail

State of the Union: Atlas, a German Shepherd, looks to be a campaign fixture.
JD Vance RNC Convention Speech
Credit: KAMIL KRZACZYNSKI/AFP via Getty Images

The Republican VP nominee J.D. Vance turned back toward the car door as rain streaked across a barren Ohio tarmac to reach for Atlas. The nine-month-old German Shepard bounced out of the black SUV and hurriedly pawed his way up the steps of Trump Force 2. 

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“He was *not happy* about the wet metal stairs,” Vance wrote in response to video of the two that was already going viral on 𝕏Friday afternoon. “He’s doing good on the plane though. We’ve had two GSDs, and both of them do this thing where they find the one person who doesn’t like dogs and they suck up to them.”

Vance never looked happier than he did chasing Atlas up the steps with a black umbrella in one hand and a leash in the other. When he departed the plane in Wisconsin, he let Atlas run ahead of him without restraint as the press pool chased the dog down the steps. 

Following his speech at the Milwaukee Police Association, Vance joked about the addition of Atlas to his traveling entourage:

“If you know what a German Shepherd looks like, you know he looks like a police dog,” Vance said. “So, we're about to hit the road but nobody kidnap my dog because we want him back."

Vance’s polite pooch runs a stark contrast to President Joe Biden’s German Shepherds, Commander and Major, who were removed from the White House after biting Secret Service agents “at least 24 times” throughout Biden’s tenure.