Vice presidential candidate J.D. Vance tried — and succeeded, thanks to Ohio Republicans — to win over working-class voters during his first speech since being nominated by former President Donald Trump.
All eyes were on Vance as he took the main stage at the Republican National Convention Wednesday night.
“I will be a vice president who never forgets where he came from,” Vance said in his 30-minute speech.
He emphasized his rural Midwestern upbringing, saying that “there’s still a ton of talent and determination in the American heart.”
Vance first came to the national stage with his book Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis, which chronicled his traumatic childhood in southwest Ohio and his path to success. He recounted those experiences to voters in 2021 when he made his first run for public office, seeking to replace outgoing U.S. Sen. Rob Portman.
Much of his speech referenced the plight of his book, as well as his admiration for his running mate, Trump.
“President Trump is America’s last hope for restoring what, if lost, may never be found — a country where a working-class boy, born far from the halls of power, can stand on this stage as the next vice president of the United States of America,” the vice presidential candidate said.
The speech resonated with Josh Culling from northwest Ohio, who watched from the crowd.
“As an Ohioan who has lived in Ohio his whole life and has struggled with some of the issues, he is very representative of that,” said Culling, a Republican strategist and former state central committeeman. “Ohio’s story is American story.”
Though he was not a delegate, Culling is part of a group from Ohio that attended the RNC.
“I think the mood in the convention center last night reflected the excitement that the Republican Party, and I think the country, has for JD Vance as vice president,” he added.
Vance is credible for another reason — his age, Culling said. Vance is youthful, turning 40 in August.
“It’s a breath of fresh air for our party and, frankly, for the country — given the way boomers have governed over the last few decades,” added he, a millennial.
Vance has focused largely on representing the forgotten and restoring jobs to the United States.
“We need a leader who is not in the pocket of big business but is accountable to working people — both union and non-union,” Vance said.
Kellie Copeland of Abortion Forward was not impressed.
“People have real concerns and I think it would be wise to address that, but the problem is he doesn’t have any experience to back that up,” Copeland said.
Vance became a venture capitalist after working in Silicon Valley for years. She added that he did nothing in the U.S. Senate to support workers.
National Democrats have sharply criticized Vance for actions they say are inconsistent with his rhetoric.
“JD Vance pretends to be a populist, but he’s just another MAGA Republican in the pocket of special interests. At every opportunity, Vance abandons hard-working Americans to side with his Silicon Valley benefactors, his Project 2025 cronies, and Trump’s Mar-a-Lago billionaires. Vance doesn’t care if the Trump-Vance tax scam creates an ‘inflationary bomb’ that blows costs to working families. When times got tough, Vance turned his back on unions, opposing legislation to improve wages, benefits, and working conditions for members. And when bipartisan funding was on the table to secure our border and increase fentanyl screening to combat the opioid epidemic, Vance followed Trump’s orders to ‘kill’ the deal,” DNC Rapid Response Director Alex Floyd said in a statement.
Culling acknowledged that historically, the Republican Party has not typically been the party favored by labor unions.
“The Republican Party has really changed demographically in the last eight to 10 years to really prioritize the desires and needs and struggles of the working class,” the strategist said. “If America is going to be the strongest economy in the world, we should be sharing the fruits of that labor with the workers who are building our country.”
RNC delegate Shawn Parker said that with Vance’s aid, Ohio will return to the national stage as “America’s leader.”
“The factory jobs are going to come back to Ohio,” Parker said. “Ohio is roaring like a lion right now, and I don’t think you’ve heard the loudest call, it’s getting louder.”
The vice presidential candidate has repeatedly mentioned Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Ohio as areas he would like to invest in, bringing jobs back to areas that are currently overseas.
Parker also appreciated Vance’s approach to foreign policy.
“We believe that the President’s administration has woefully failed to understand that the world is safe and stable,” Parker said. “Europe looks to the United States to provide leadership and a guiding star.”
According to the Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights, there are currently more than 110 armed conflicts in the world, including the Ukraine-Russia and Israel-Hamas conflicts, the humanitarian crises in the Gaza Strip and Myanmar, the insurgency in the Maghreb and the civil war in Sudan.
But Vance argued they were not happening on U.S. soil.
“We will make sure our allies share the burden of ensuring peace in the world,” Vance said. “No more free rides for nations that betray the generosity of the American taxpayer. Together, we will send our children to war only when necessary.”
Vance has expressed his dissatisfaction with the US involvement in the war in Ukraine. In an interview with Steve Bannon, Vance stated, “I really don’t care what happens to Ukraine one way or another.” Vance also wrote to the Financial Times that Europe is costing the Americans.
Miscarriage
Copeland took issue with Vance leaving out his views on social issues from his speech. She said he was trying to appeal to undecided voters.
“He’s for a nationwide abortion ban, apparently with a travel ban. He doesn’t want people from states that ban abortion to be able to travel to other states,” she said. “But he still tries to seem more mainstream.”
When he was running for Senate in 2022, Vance told the Very Fine People podcast that he “would like to see abortion illegal across the board.” He also said compared abortion to slavery.
Trump recently said that he didn’t want a national ban.
“My view now that we have abortion where everybody wanted it legally, the states will decide by vote or by legislature, or maybe both. And whatever they decide has to be the law of the land. In this case, the law of the state,” Trump said in an April 8 video on Truth Social.
Vance has since changed his public comments on abortion,
“We need to recognize how much voters don’t trust us (I mean elected Republicans) on this issue,” he said in write to X.
Some detailed CNN article detailed his comments, including one in which he said: “We have to accept that people don’t want a total abortion ban.”
Copeland warns not to trust any politician.
“They just change the rhetoric they put out to voters for a few weeks so they can get elected,” she said. “They don’t really change their views.”
Parker thinks Democrats are grasping at straws.
“They’re trying to frame J.D. Vance,” Parker said. “The abortion issue isn’t so much a federal issue now, it’s been moved to the states.”
On Thursday morning, Vance spoke at a prayer breakfast and touched on social issues.
“Social conservatives have a seat at this table and always will as long as I have any influence in this party,” Vance said.
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