Milwaukee (Associated Press) Donald Trump Vice Presidential Candidate J.D. Vance On Wednesday night, he introduced himself to a national audience, Republican National Convention.
The Ohio senator’s headline speech will be his first as the Republican vice presidential nominee. In fact, this year’s rally will also be the first Republican National Convention address for Vance, according to a Trump campaign source not authorized to speak publicly. Vance has transformed himself rapidly in recent years from a relative political unknown. From Trump’s fiercest critic For aggressive defenders.
Former President Donald Trump is introduced at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Tuesday, July 16, 2024. At right is Republican vice presidential nominee Sen. J.D. Vance of Ohio. (AP Photo/Paul Sancia)
At 39, he is positioned to be a potential leader of the former president’s political movement, which has reshaped the Republican Party and shattered long-standing political norms. As the first millennial to join a major party’s nominee, he joined the race at a time when questions about the ages of the two leaders — Trump, 78, and Obama, 81 — were emerging. President Joe Biden — is listed as a top concern among voters.
Vance is expected to recount his history as a man raised poor in Kentucky and Ohio, with a drug-addicted mother and an absentee father who rose to the highest levels of U.S. politics. The story is intended to connect with middle-class voters and highlight how his upbringing shaped his positions on issues such as immigration, inflation and drugs, according to a person familiar with the speech who was not authorized to speak publicly about the speech.
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Vance is an Ivy League graduate and businessman. Memoir “Hillbilly Elegy” “The Man Who Was a Democrat,” which explores his blue-collar roots, was published in 2016 and made his name known nationwide. The book is now seen as a window into some of the cultural forces that propelled Trump to the White House that year.
Tony Fabrizio, a Trump pollster and senior adviser to his campaign, said Wednesday that Vance would be useful in key Rust Belt states such as Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, where Vance’s blue-collar background and populist views are popular.
Former President Donald Trump and Republican vice presidential nominee Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio) arrive during the second day of the Republican National Convention at Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Tuesday, July 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
“His story is a compelling story,” Fabrizio said at an event hosted by the University of Chicago Institute of Politics and the Cook Political Report.
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich said Wednesday that President Trump’s choice of running mate is part of a plan to continue transforming the Republican Party and the country, rather than picking a traditional figure to “unify” the Republican Party.
This runs counter to some of the talk about party unity that was the talk of the first two days of the convention — or, more accurately, reflects how the definition of Republican unity in 2024 is an embrace of Trump’s vision and legacy for the party.
Gingrich, imitating Trump, told Iowa Republicans, “Trump had time to think it through. And his answer was, ‘No, the people are not on my side so that I can compromise. The people are on my side to get things done. … And I need people who believe in what we’re doing. And I’m not going to reach out to anybody else but us.'”
And yet most Americans, and Republicans, don’t know much about Vance. New poll According to a poll conducted by the AP-NORC Center for Public Policy Research before Trump selected the freshman senator as his running mate, 6 in 10 Americans don’t know enough about Vance to form an opinion about him. About 2 in 10 American adults have a favorable view of Vance, and 22% have an unfavorable view. Among Republicans, 61% don’t know enough about Vance to form an opinion about him. About a quarter have a favorable view of Vance, and about 1 in 10 have an unfavorable view.
Republican vice presidential nominee Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio) is introduced during the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Tuesday, July 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Paul Sancia)
Vance told Trump at a fundraiser in Milwaukee on Wednesday that he was “really looking forward to tonight” and joked that he wouldn’t spoil it, but that it was too late for Trump to change his mind.
He is a former president, Assassination attempt At a rally in Pennsylvania on Saturday.
“The media keeps saying they want someone to de-escalate, but Donald Trump got shot and he de-escalated, and that’s what true leaders do,” Vance said.
Presidential candidate Donald Trump is scheduled to speak on Thursday, the final day of the convention, after completing a tour of the convention site on Wednesday afternoon. It will be his first speech since he was wounded in the shooting on Saturday.
In addition to Vance’s primetime speech, Republicans plan to focus Wednesday on the theme of American global strength. President Trump’s eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., and Vance’s wife, Usha Chirukuri Vance, are scheduled to speak on Wednesday, according to a person familiar with the program. Families of service members killed during the troop withdrawal from Afghanistan and those killed in the hostage crisis in Afghanistan are also scheduled to speak. Attack on October 7 in Israel, the official said.
Republicans say the US has become the “laughing stock of the world” under Biden and are expected to make their case on Wednesday on their theme of “Making America Strong Again”, which is likely to include Trump’s “America First” foreign policy that has redefined relations with some allies and adversaries.
Democrats have harshly criticized President Trump and Senator Vance’s positions, including questioning U.S. support for Ukraine’s defense against Russian aggression.
In a video released Wednesday by the Biden reelection campaign, Vice President Kamala Harris dismissed Vance, saying Trump “knew he was someone who would approve of his extreme policies.”
“Make no mistake: J.D. Vance is loyal only to Trump, not to our country,” Harris said in the video.
Vance was a sharp critic of Trump when he was first elected, calling him in an interview “toxic” and someone who is “leading the white working class into a very dark place.” He once called Trump “the American Hitler.”
He grew fond of Trump over the years, especially as he sought to run for the U.S. Senate in 2022. Vance won Trump’s endorsement and helped him win the party’s nomination for the Ohio Senate seat.
Vance became one of Trump’s most outspoken defenders during the former president’s third presidential run, debating journalists, campaigning for him and appearing with the candidate at his trial in New York.
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This story has been updated to correct scheduled speaking dates from Thursday to Wednesday.
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Associated Press writers Jill Colvin and Bill Barrow in Milwaukee and Will Weisert and Mary Clare Jalonick in Washington contributed to this report.
