The decision by a Manhattan jury to convict Donald Trump on 34 felony charges concocted by a partisan prosecutor has only underscored the importance of who will join the Republican ticket as the vice presidential nominee.

The Thursday verdict has raised the specter that Trump may be imprisoned before Election Day and, at the very least, could be hampered on the campaign trail. Because of this, the individual who will join Trump on the ticket must be a wholehearted believer in his agenda, and who can effectively communicate that vision.

While Trump may be tempted to pick an individual who is seen as an appeal to the middle, such a candidate will only embolden calls for him to step aside. The reality is that Trump offers a unique message that is a threat to the existing political establishment, and as he continues his campaign to return to the White House, he needs a candidate who embodies that same vision.

As Trump learned in his first term, aligning himself with people who are ideologically opposed to his agenda and policy vision will greatly hamper his ability to articulate and act on that vision. And if the legal campaign against Trump keeps the former president off the campaign trail in any way, his vice presidential candidate must be able to step in and advocate that vision.

The most obvious candidate that fits this criteria is Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH), who has distinguished himself as one of Trump’s strongest political and ideological allies in Congress.

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In his short time in the Senate, Vance has advanced a populist economic policy agenda that is straight from the Trump playbook. On foreign policy, Vance has also shown a keen ability to advocate an “America First” foreign policy by refusing to give a blank check to fund endless foreign conflicts on the other side of the globe and pressuring allies to contribute to their own defense.

Other possible candidates include Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), former presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, and former Hawaii congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard. Each of these candidates will bolster Trump’s anti-establishment message as he combats a lawfare campaign that seeks to throw him in prison.