MILWAUKEE — Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio) officially accepted the vice presidential nomination Wednesday night, using his speech at the Republican National Convention to lean on his history and criticize policies that he said have harmed “forgotten communities ” all over the country.
Vance, who former President Trump named his running mate on Monday, used the biggest moment of his political career to combine his unique background – born in poor Appalachia, becoming a Marine, venture capitalist and senator for Ohio — with policies he said have caused incalculable harm to the U.S.
Bad trade deals, “disastrous” foreign wars and a drug epidemic topped the list, with Vance taking the opportunity to draw a contrast between Trump and President Biden on each issue.
“And every step of the way, in small towns like mine in Ohio, or neighboring Pennsylvania, or Michigan and other states across our country, jobs have been sent overseas and children have been sent to war,” Vance said. .
“Somehow a New York real estate developer named Donald J. Trump was right on all these issues, while Biden was wrong,” he said. “President Trump knew even then that we needed leaders who would put America first.”
The Ohio senator was enthusiastically received by delegates and attendees, who chanted “JD! JD!” throughout the 37-minute speech, which Trump watched from his front-row suite.
Vance also peppered the speech with anecdotes about “Mamaw” — his grandmother who helped raise him — and praise for his mother, who has been sober for 10 years after struggling for years with addiction. Delegates shouted “JD’s mother!” after she was introduced and shown sitting near Trump.
One of the loudest applause during that speech came when he described finding 19 loaded guns hidden in his grandmother’s house because “this frail, elderly woman made sure that no matter where she was, she would be within reach of whatever she needed. to protect your family.”
He was introduced by his wife, Usha Vance, whom he frequently referenced, noting that things for them have gotten “increasingly weirder” since he proposed in law school with more than $100,000 in debt. – “and a cemetery on the side of a mountain”. in eastern Kentucky.”
A former Trump skeptic, Vance delved deeply into his biography in what was his introduction to the national scene.
Time and again he returned to the Rust Belt.
He constantly name-checked Michigan, Pennsylvania and Michigan — three states crucial to Trump regaining the White House — along with his home state.
“This moment is not about me. It’s about all of us and who we are fighting for”, said the author of “Elegia caipira”.
The Biden campaign criticized Vance on his big night, calling him “unprepared, unqualified and willing to do anything Donald Trump demands” in a statement.
Vance was chosen as Trump’s running mate over the likes of Senator Marco Rubio (R-Florida) and North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum (R). He was the top pick of Donald Trump Jr., who told reporters this week that he “couldn’t be happier” with the pick.
Despite being in the Senate for just over a year and a half, the Ohio Republican has made his presence felt, especially among those firmly in the “America First” wing of the party, bucking the leadership on several topics that have come up. the vanguard.
Most notably, Vance has been the GOP’s leading skeptic in the Upper House regarding increased aid to Ukraine — a topic that was not directly mentioned during his speech, despite signs saying “Trump will end the war in Ukraine” being distributed in the convention hall – and supporting his war against Russia that has been going on for almost two and a half years. Consistently, he has insisted that the $61 billion that Biden and Congress greenlit in April was a waste of resources.
Instead, he argued that a negotiated peace should be negotiated that would include Ukraine ceding land in the east to Russia in order to end the war – an idea that is categorically rejected by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R- Ky) and most of the Senate. Republican Party Conference, which states that Ukraine is fighting in the name of democracy.
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), a staunch supporter of Ukraine, said in April as Congress conducted the national security supplement, he sharply criticized Vance’s claims that Ukraine did not have enough manpower to expel the Russian forces in the country and that the US was unable to produce the necessary weapons material.
“This is rubbish,” Graham said in an interview at the time. “I challenge JD Vance to go to Ukraine and take instructions from the Ukrainian military and talk to the Ukrainian people, and then tell me what you think. … Let’s go back, you can come.”
Vance has not visited Ukraine.
Additionally, the Ohio senator clashed with Republican leaders in the wake of the train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, which spilled toxic chemicals and forced area residents to evacuate their homes.
Vance and Senator Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) lobbied leaders to pass the Railroad Safety Act, but most of the top Republicans involved were opposed. Not surprisingly, the same is true of the rail industry, which finds the legislation unnecessarily burdensome.
In Wednesday’s comments, Vance often assumed the role of Trump’s main attack dog and defender throughout the speech. He referenced the state of the economy during his first term, his plan to confront China and the fentanyl epidemic.
“We will put America’s citizens first,” he declared.
“I promise one thing: I will be a vice president who never forgets where he came from,” he said at the end of his speech. “And every day for the next four years, when I step into the White House to help President Trump, I will do it for you, for your family, for your future and for this great country.”
This story originally appeared on thehill.com read the full story
