Donald
Trump’s
vice-presidential
pick
JD
Vance
vowed
in
a
primetime
speech
to
fight
for
working-class
Americans
that
he
argued
had
been
“cast
aside
and
forgotten”
by
the
Democrats.
Introducing
himself
to
millions
of
Americans
watching
on
TV
at
home,
the
Ohio
senator
channelled
his
humble
roots
in
the
Midwest
as
he
assailed
“career
politicians”
like
President
Joe
Biden.
He
argued
in
his
address
at
the
Republican
National
Convention
in
Milwaukee,
Wisconsin,
that
Trump
was
the
“last
best
hope”
for
Americans.
Trump
and
his
running
mate
will
challenge
the
Democratic
White
House
ticket,
currently
Mr
Biden
and
his
Vice-President,
Kamala
Harris,
in
November’s
election.
Mr
Biden’s
account
on
X,
formerly
Twitter,
hit
back
at
Mr
Vance
on
Wednesday
night,
over
his
positions
on
abortion
and
Ukraine.
Mr
Vance,
39,
is
hoping
to
become
one
of
the
youngest
vice-presidents
in
US
history.
In
the
speech,
he
charted
his
journey
from
a
difficult
childhood
in
small-town
Ohio
to
the
US
Marines,
Yale
Law
School,
and
finally
the
US
Senate.
Donald
Trump’s
vice-presidential
pick
JD
Vance
vowed
in
a
primetime
speech
to
fight
for
working-class
Americans
that
he
argued
had
been
“cast
aside
and
forgotten”
by
the
Democrats.
Introducing
himself
to
millions
of
Americans
watching
on
TV
at
home,
the
Ohio
senator
channelled
his
humble
roots
in
the
Midwest
as
he
assailed
“career
politicians”
like
President
Joe
Biden.
He
argued
in
his
address
at
the
Republican
National
Convention
in
Milwaukee,
Wisconsin,
that
Trump
was
the
“last
best
hope”
for
Americans.
Trump
and
his
running
mate
will
challenge
the
Democratic
White
House
ticket,
currently
Mr
Biden
and
his
Vice-President,
Kamala
Harris,
in
November’s
election.
Mr
Biden’s
account
on
X,
formerly
Twitter,
hit
back
at
Mr
Vance
on
Wednesday
night,
over
his
positions
on
abortion
and
Ukraine.
Mr
Vance,
39,
is
hoping
to
become
one
of
the
youngest
vice-presidents
in
US
history.
In
the
speech,
he
charted
his
journey
from
a
difficult
childhood
in
small-town
Ohio
to
the
US
Marines,
Yale
Law
School,
and
finally
the
US
Senate.
The
author
of
best-selling
memoir
Hillbilly
Elegy,
about
his
impoverished
family
in
Appalachian
coal
country,
said
“America’s
ruling
class”
had
destroyed
communities
like
his
hometown
with
trade
agreements
and
foreign
wars.
“From
Iraq
to
Afghanistan,
from
the
financial
crisis
to
the
Great
Recession,
from
open
borders
to
stagnating
wages,
the
people
who
govern
this
country
have
failed
and
failed
again,”
he
said.
He
continued:
“Donald
Trump
represents
America’s
last
best
hope
to
restore
what
–
if
lost
–
may
never
be
found
again.
“A
country
where
a
working-class
boy,
born
far
from
the
halls
of
power,
can
stand
on
this
stage.”
The
running
mate,
who
is
married
to
Usha
Vance,
a
lawyer
and
daughter
of
Indian
immigrants,
said
the
US
had
traditionally
welcomed
newcomers,
but
that
it
ought
not
to
import
foreign
labour.
“When
we
allow
newcomers,
we
allow
them
on
our
terms,”
he
said.
Mr
Vance
was
previously
an
opponent
of
Trump,
once
dismissing
the
Republican
as
an
“idiot”
who
could
become
“America’s
Hitler”.
JD
Vance
said
his
mother,
Bev
Vance,
(pictured)
had
been
“10
years
clean
and
sober”
By
then
a
venture
capitalist
in
Silicon
Valley,
he
later
mended
fences
with
Trump.
He
won
the
former
president’s
endorsement
and
was
elected
to
the
Senate
in
2022,
taking
office
the
following
year.
Democrats
have
seized
on
some
of
Mr
Vance’s
past
statements,
including
that
he
doesn’t
“really
care
what
happens
to
Ukraine”
and
support
for
a
nationwide
abortion
ban.
He
has
recently
moderated
his
stance
on
abortion
to
align
with
the
official
Republican
platform,
which
says
the
issue
should
be
decided
by
individual
states.
He
did
not
mention
the
war
in
Ukraine
during
his
speech,
or
say
much
at
all
about
foreign
policy,
which
was
the
theme
of
the
third
day
of
the
party
conference.
Mr
Vance
did
say
that
US
allies
must
share
in
the
burden
of
securing
world
peace
and
America
would
avoid
conflict
but
“punch
hard”
if
provoked
under
a
second
Trump
presidency.
He
began
his
speech
by
talking
about
last
Saturday’s
assassination
attempt
on
Trump.
“They
accused
him
of
being
a
tyrant,”
he
said.
“They
said
he
must
be
stopped
at
all
costs.
But
how
did
he
respond?
He
called
for
national
unity,
for
national
calm.”
In
the
immediate
aftermath
of
the
attack,
Mr
Vance
blamed
it
on
Mr
Biden’s
rhetoric
and
his
warnings
that
his
Republican
rival
poses
a
threat
to
democracy.
Most
Americans
had
little
knowledge
of
him
until
Wednesday
night.
A
CNN
poll
conducted
last
month
showed
that
13%
of
registered
voters
said
they
had
a
favourable
opinion
of
Mr
Vance
and
20%
an
unfavourable
one
–
nearly
two-thirds
either
had
never
heard
of
him
or
had
no
opinion.
Some
convention-goers
on
Wednesday
said
they
were
still
learning
about
his
biography.
Cindy
Dore
and
Jackie
Canon,
two
Republican
delegates
from
Louisiana,
said
they
were
excited
by
Trump’s
pick.
“He’s
young,
vibrant,”
Ms
Dore
said.
She
said
she
appreciated
Hillbilly
Elegy,
but
other
than
that,
she
didn’t
know
a
lot
about
Mr
Vance.
The
speeches
began
shortly
after
it
was
announced
that
President
Biden
had
been
diagnosed
with
Covid-19
and
temporarily
suspended
campaign
activities.
The
climax
of
the
Republican
convention
will
be
Donald
Trump’s
speech
on
Thursday
night.
Chris
Devine
–
an
associate
professor
of
politics
at
the
University
of
Dayton
and
co-author
of
Do
Running
Mates
Matter?
–
told
the
BBC
that
vice-presidential
picks
tend
to
have
quite
a
small
effect
on
the
overall
race.
“If
it’s
the
case
that
people
look
at
JD
Vance
and
see
him
as
insufficiently
experienced,
they
will
think
less
of
Donald
Trump
and
his
judgement,”
he
says.
“Not
by
a
lot,
but
potentially
on
the
margins.”
But
Mr
Devine
also
noted
that
Mr
Vance
is
an
“incredibly
talented
communicator”
despite
being
a
relative
political
newcomer.
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