“We need to get back to an America where a working-class kid like me can stand on this stage.”
It was his chance to make a national appearance, in prime time, and he did not waste it.
The Senator from Ohio JD Vancerecently elected as Donald Trump’s running mate for the US presidential election on November 5took the stage on Wednesday, during the third day of the Republican National Convention, and delivered a forceful and forceful speech.
He praised Trump, called for unity, and linked the day’s theme – foreign policy, national security and immigration – with his origins and the working-class United States that struggles with a lack of opportunities and the high cost of living, earning him a standing ovation from those attending the event in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
There was no trace of the Vance who was part of the movement in 2016 Never Trump (Never Trump), who was opposed to the tycoon reaching the White House, and who went so far as to say that The former president was “America’s Hitler.”
Vance, Aged 39, he remains politically unknown to the general publiceven within their own formation.
A former venture capitalist and writer, he changed positions in 2022 at the start of his political career, and today belongs to the Trumpist wing of the Senate.
He was introduced by his wife, attorney Usha Chilukuri Vance, on a day in which diverse guests also spoke, including the governor of Texas, Greg Abbott, Donald Trump Jr. and his 17-year-old daughter, Kai Madison Trump, among others.
Meanwhile, Trump greeted the delegates present at the event, more energetically than in previous days, and it was known that his opponent, Joe Biden had to pause his campaign after contracting Covid.
Below are some of the highlights from Vance’s speech in which he told Americans where he comes from, who he is, and what kind of vice president he will be if elected alongside Trump.
1. “(Trump) is tough but he cares about people. He can defiantly confront a murderer one moment and call for national reconciliation the next.”
His first words were to recall Sunday’s attack on Trump and to underline that the US was very close to having to declare national mourning.
He spoke softly and calmly about the Republican presidential candidate, whom he once strongly criticized — “I go back and forth between thinking that Trump “He’s a cynical jerk… or he’s America’s Hitler,” she wrote in a private Facebook message in 2016—and defended him as someone “tough who cares about people.”
“He He didn’t need politics, but the people needed him. “him,” he continued. “And he has given everything he has for the people of his country.”
He also presented him as a politician who unites.
Trump “can defiantly confront a murderer one moment and call for national reconciliation the next.”
He called on those present to do the same: “My message to Republicans is: We love this country and we are united to win. Our differences make us stronger.“.
2. “To the people of all the forgotten communities of Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Ohio and every corner of our nation… I will never forget where I came from.”
Vance did not miss an opportunity to do so. reference to some of the states that are expected to be key in the elections on Nov. 5, as he spoke of his own origins in a rural, impoverished and often forgotten part of the U.S.
“In our family we came from the mountains, from the Appalachians, to the factories of Ohio, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin,” he stressed.
And at another point he repeated: “To the people of all the forgotten communities of Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Ohio and every corner of our nation… I will never forget where I come from.”
Born in Middletown, Ohio, in 1984 as James David Bowman, he was raised by his maternal grandparents in a white, working-class family due to his mother’s addiction problems and the absence of his father.
He described his grandmother, whom he called mamaw —”As we say, “hillbilly”, people who come from the Appalachians—like an iron woman in whose house, when she died, her relatives found “19 loaded pistols”.
And he took the moment to introduce his mother, who was in the audience.
3. “We are committed to the working class. We will not buy energy from countries that hate us. We will stamp ‘Made in the USA’ on every product. We will build factories again.”
Seamlessly weaving together the story of his origins with the presentation of the political ideas he espouses, Vance claimed that “the American ruling class” destroyed communities like his hometown “with trade deals and foreign wars.”
“From Iraq to Afghanistan, From the financial crisis to the Great Recession, from open borders to stagnant wages“The people who run this country have failed time and time again,” he said.
And along those lines, he said that Trump represents “America’s last, best hope to restore what, if lost, may never be found again.”
He promised to defend the interests of the working class and outlined his economic perspective, which he shares with his running mate.
“We will not buy energy from countries that hate us. We will stamp ‘Made in the USA’ on every product. We will build factories again,” he concluded.
4. “It is part of our tradition to welcome newcomers. But when we welcome them, we do so on our own terms.”
In keeping with the theme of the day, Vance also addressed the immigration.
His wife, when introducing him, spoke of his different ethnic origins and told the audience how Vance, accustomed to eating “meat and potatoes,” adapted to his vegetarian diet and learned to cook typical Indian dishes from his mother, who is originally from that country.
“I am married to the daughter of immigrants from Southeast Asia, incredible people, people who genuinely enriched this country in so many ways,” Vance later noted.
Which allowed him to explain his vision on immigration.
In the US “it is part of our tradition welcoming newcomers“he said. “But when we welcome them, we do it on our own terms“, he clarified.
“This is how we have guaranteed the continuity of this project for 250 years.”
5. “We will send our sons to war only when necessary. And when we strike, we will strike hard.”
Vance has harshly criticized the Biden administration’s foreign policy on issues such as the US withdrawal from Afghanistan, Israel’s war in Gaza, security of the US southern border and support for Ukraine in its war against Russia.
And he also made room for the topic in his speech on Wednesday.
“We will send our sons to war only when necessary. And when we strike, we will strike hard,” he proclaimed.
His nomination as vice presidential candidate has fueled fears in Europe about the implications of a second Trump presidency for both the NATO alliance and continued US military and financial aid to Ukraine.
Already in February, at the Munich Security Conference, he said that the European countries needed to take on a larger burden so that the US could focus its attention on Asia and in particular in China.
As a senator, he played a key role in delaying Washington’s $60 billion military aid package earlier this year, and has suggested Ukraine should negotiate a peace deal with Russia, even if it means giving up territory.
But the Republican Party continues divided on support for Ukraine and it is unclear whether Vance’s skepticism about aid to Ukraine would influence Trump if he were to win the White House.
In any case, after addressing foreign policy, Vance closed his first speech as a vice presidential candidate by thanking him for having been elected and repeating the message with which he began:
In the US, “we need a leader who will fight for the people who build this country.”
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