JD Vance will reach prime time Wednesday night when he appears before the Republican Party convention as Donald Trump’s running mate, using the story of his impoverished childhood to speak directly to a forgotten American.
“Some people tell me I’ve lived the American dream, and they’re right,” he said, as his mother watched from Trump’s box.
“But the American dream that always mattered most wasn’t starting a business or becoming a senator or even being here with you wonderful people. It was becoming a good husband and a good father, and giving my family the things I never had as a child.”
The 39-year-old first-term senator is following a meteoric rise, from a difficult upbringing amid the ravages of his mother’s addiction, to the Marines, to Yale Law School and now to the Trump campaign.
But he is little known outside political circles despite his memoir, ‘Hillbilly Elegy’, which was later made into a film starring Glenn Close.
Donald Trump’s running mate, Sen. JD Vance, spoke at a fundraiser on Wednesday. Later in the day he will deliver a prime-time speech in which the campaign will introduce him to the nation.
His speech will blame “career politicians” like Joe Biden for trade policies that hurt families like his.
“President Trump’s vision is simple: We will not just pander to Wall Street, we will engage with working people,” he said. “We will not import foreign labor, we will fight for American citizens.”
But he himself admits that he was not always Trump’s biggest fan. He did not vote for him in 2016 and frequently appeared in public warning about what he saw as the Republican president’s excesses and even comparing him privately to Hitler.
All of that has been forgotten in Trump’s 2024 Republican Party, where the repentant “Never Trump” supporter might even help woo skeptics.
Nowhere in the hall was there more enthusiasm than among the Ohio delegation. While other delegates were getting up and walking around the hall, going out for drinks or using the bathroom, the Buckeye seats were filled two hours before Vance showed up.
Delegate Mike Gondinaki said the enthusiasm for Vance was real.
“He represents the present and the future,” he said. JD Vance is the future of our party. What Barack Obama was for the Democrats.
The campaign released images of his name added to a Trump plane and some of his Senate staff was transferred to the presidential election effort.
Vance’s tough upbringing, the son of an addicted mother with an endless list of partners in southern Ohio, is a message that will resonate with a wide swath of America’s heartland.
Usha Vance appeared on stage to introduce her husband at the convention. “It’s hard to imagine a more powerful example of the American dream,” she said.
Former President Donald Trump arrives for the third day of the Republican convention
But he lacks political experience and was only elected to the Senate two years ago.
Still, the Yale Law School graduate carries intellectual heft and is seen as the kind of vice president who could help flesh out Trump’s instinctive politics with a philosophical framework.
Trump ally Nigel Farage, elected to the British parliament earlier this month, said the 78-year-old former president had his sights set on the future.
“This is the Trump succession,” he told DailyMail.com. “This is the MAGA legacy.”
The anticipation grew throughout the evening.
The noise erupted when Trump himself arrived shortly after 8 p.m., to the tune of James Brown’s “It’s a Man’s World” featuring Pavarotti. It’s one of his favorite songs and he regularly plays it for guests aboard his private jet to demonstrate the power of his new sound system.
Vance, however, was to be the star of the show, and the evening included references to his home in Ohio. One of the speakers was the mayor of East Palestine.
Vance had helped organize Trump’s visit there last year in the wake of a devastating train crash that dumped thousands of tons of toxic chemicals into rivers.
Representative Nancy Mace of South Carolina was another speaker. She later paraded around the floor in a striking pink dress, drawing mostly male fans for selfies.
Rep. Nancy Mace of South Carolina admitted she watched “Hillbilly Elegy” on Sunday to get to know him better before this week’s Republican convention.
Media mogul Rupert Murdoch was seen talking to Senator Lindsey Graham
Vendors have made a healthy trade of merchandise at the convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin
She said her extraordinary story would help Trump connect with voters in Joe Biden’s so-called “blue wall” states: Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin.
But he admitted he needed a crash course on Vance before the convention.
“I watched Hillbilly Elegy on Netflix on Sunday night to get to know him a little better,” he said.
Vance was introduced as Trump’s running mate on Monday, setting off a whirlwind of preparations.
Trump’s campaign quickly released images of his name plastered on the side of a plane with the Trump logo. Security at his home was heightened and some of his Senate staffers were transferred to the presidential campaign.
Another first for Vance on Wednesday was his first fundraiser for the Trump-Vance campaign, where he criticized the “dishonest” media in front of 200 supporters.
Wednesday is vice presidential day. Vance will deliver the big speech at the Republican convention in Milwaukee later in the day. His wife Usha will also speak.
Vance will address delegates on Wednesday evening. He is pictured here during a tour on Tuesday, looking at the stage and lectern at Fiserv Forum.
Vance’s wife, Usha, will take the stage to address the convention before her husband.
Trump campaign aide Jason Miller posted an image of Vance stickers added to a plane
Vance joined Trump at the Fiserv Forum on Tuesday night before hearing former rivals Nikki Haley and Ron DeSantis address the convention.
“The media keeps saying they want someone to turn things down,” he said.
“Well, Donald Trump got shot and he brought the temperature down. That’s what a real leader does.”
Visitors to Discovery World science center on the shores of Lake Michigan dined on Maine lobster rolls accompanied by crab and artichoke dip.
Vance brought with him memories of his humble beginnings, walking to the bluegrass banjo beat of Merle Haggard’s “America First.”
He said he would have to be careful not to reveal any details of the evening’s big speech.
“I joked with the president that I’m really excited about this evening and I hope I don’t screw it up, but if I do, it will be too late. He made the bet, didn’t he? It’s official now,” he said, laughing.
