Democrats are rolling out new messaging targeting President Trump’s vice presidential pick, Senator Vance, highlighting his past identity as a “never Trump guy” and his statements on hot button issues like abortion. 

Following Trump’s announcement that Mr. Vance would be his nominee, a Democratic National Committee spokesman, Alex Floyd, said that Trump and Mr. Vance are “planning to rip away their health care, gut Social Security, strip their reproductive freedoms, and shill for big corporations on the backs of working families.”

Mr. Floyd was speaking in reference to new billboards taken out by Democrats surrounding the Republican National Convention site at Milwaukee, which highlight the difference between the Republican and Democratic parties on issues like abortion and repealing the Affordable Care Act.

“If Trump were trying to distance himself from Project 2025, then he probably shouldn’t have chosen as his running mate the man who just days ago said that the extreme blueprint is full of ‘good ideas,’” Mr. Floyd said.

Mr. Floyd is referencing a statement from Mr. Vance in 2022 when he said he would support a 15-week national abortion ban. He’s separately voiced support for allowing states to go beyond that “minimum national standard.”

The current Trump-controlled Republican Party platform promises to avoid making cuts to Social Security, though it’s not clear whether the change to the platform will convince voters that the GOP, which has advocated for cuts in the past, would decline to make cuts to the program once in power.

The platform, which was approved at the RNC, also makes no mention of repealing the Affordable Care Act, though Trump did attempt to do so while president.

The Ohio Democratic Party also rolled out criticisms of Mr. Vance as the vice presidential nominee, calling him “an out-of-touch millionaire who launched his political career by taking advantage of Ohio’s opioid crisis and has spent his time in the Senate humiliating himself in the service of a convicted felon.” 

“His support for a national abortion ban and his twisted belief that women should stay in violent marriages for the benefit of their children exemplifies his dangerous extremism. He’s not just wrong for Ohio, he’s wrong for the country,” the Ohio Democrats said in a statement.

Individual Democratic members of Congress have also criticized Mr. Vance, with Congressman Greg Landsman, who represents Ohio’s First District, saying Mr. Vance “is not a unity selection.”

“He gained fame and wealth by disrespecting Southwest Ohio, and he made national headlines when he compared Donald Trump to Hitler during the 2016 election,” Mr. Landsman said. “The brand of politics Mr. Vance has practiced does not meet the seriousness of this moment.”

Other Democrats, like Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, have mocked Mr. Vance as a vice presidential nominee due to his history on social media.

“Does anyone else remember that JD Vance daylight saving tweet,” Ms. Ocasio-Cortez said in a post, referencing a 2020 tweet from Mr. Vance in which he expressed concern over America’s usage of Daylight Savings Time.

“As a parent of young children and a nationalist who worries about America’s low fertility, I can say with confidence that daylight savings time reduces fertility by at least 10 percent,” Mr. Vance wrote then.

An account for President Biden’s campaign also dredged up posts from Mr. Vance’s past, reposting a tweet from Mr. Vance in which he said “Trump makes people I care about afraid. Immigrants, Muslims, etc. Because of this I find him reprehensible. God wants better of us.”

The new wave of Democratic messaging highlighting Mr. Vance’s past political commentary is likely just the beginning. Since the 2016 release of Mr. Vance’s memoir, “Hillbilly Elegy,” his transformation from a self-described “never Trump guy” to Trump’s running mate has been well documented.