By Mike Wendling, BBC News
ReutersDonald Trump’s vice presidential nominee JD Vance pledged in a prime-time speech to fight for working-class Americans who he said have been “neglected and forgotten” by the Democratic Party.
Introducing himself to millions of Americans watching on TV at home, the Ohio senator leveraged his humble roots in the Midwest to attack “career politicians” like President Joe Biden.
He claimed Trump was America’s “last best hope” in a speech at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
President Trump and his running mate will challenge the Democratic White House nominee, incumbent President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, in the November election.
Mr. Biden’s X account (formerly Twitter) pushed back against Mr. Vance on Wednesday night, challenging his positions on issues including abortion and Ukraine.
At 39, Mr. Vance is hoping to become one of the youngest vice presidents in U.S. history.
In the speech, he recounted his difficult childhood in a small town in Ohio, his arduous journey to the U.S. Marine Corps, Yale Law School, and eventually to the U.S. Senate.
The author of “Hillbilly Elegy,” a best-selling memoir about a poor family in Appalachian coal country, says “America’s ruling class” has destroyed communities like his own through trade deals and foreign wars.
“From Iraq to Afghanistan, from the financial crisis to the Great Depression, from open borders to stagnant wages, those who run this country have failed again and again,” he said.
He continued: “Donald Trump represents America’s last best hope for restoring what was lost and can never be found again.
“A country where a working-class boy born far from the halls of power can stand on this stage.”
His running mate, Usha Vance, the daughter of Indian immigrants and married to lawyer, said the United States has traditionally welcomed new immigrants but should not import foreign labor.
“When we allow new immigrants, we allow them on our terms,” he said.
Mr. Vance has previously been an opponent of Trump, disparaging Republicans as “idiots” who could become “American Hitler.”
But Mr. Vance, who was working as a venture capitalist in Silicon Valley at the time, later repaired his relationship with Trump.
He was elected to the Senate in 2022 with the former president’s support and took office the following year.
Democrats cited some of Vance’s past comments, including that he “didn’t give a damn what happened to Ukraine” and that he supported a nationwide abortion ban.
He has recently softened his stance on abortion, aligning with the official Republican position that the issue should be decided by the states.
He made no mention of the war in Ukraine in his speech, and said little about foreign policy, which was the topic of the third day of the party congress.
Mr Vance said America’s allies must share the burden of ensuring world peace, and that the United States avoids conflict but will “strike hard” if provoked under a second term as president.
He began his speech by talking about the assassination attempt on Trump last Saturday.
“They denounced him as a tyrant,” he said. “They said he must be stopped at all costs. “But how did he respond? He called for national unity and tranquility.”
Immediately after the attack, Mr. Vance blamed Mr. Biden’s rhetoric portraying his Republican rival as an authoritarian fascist for the attack.
Getty ImagesMost Americans knew little about him until Wednesday night.
A CNN poll last month found that 13% of registered voters had a favorable opinion of Mr. Vance, while 20% had a negative opinion, and nearly two-thirds had never heard of him or had no opinion.
Some who attended the event on Wednesday said they were still learning about his biography.
Louisiana Republican delegates Cindy Doerr and Jackie Cannon said they were pleased with Trump’s nomination.
“He’s young and full of energy,” Mr. Dore said.
She said she liked “Hillbilly Elegy,” but other than that she didn’t know much about Mr. Vance.
The speech came shortly after news broke that President Joe Biden had tested positive for COVID-19 and was temporarily suspending his campaign.
As the Republican vice presidential nominee is introduced to the convention crowd and a national television audience watches from home, attention will now turn to the top of the ticket and Donald Trump’s speech Thursday night.
Chris Devine, an assistant professor of political science at the University of Dayton and co-author of “Do Running Mates Matter?”, told the BBC that the impact of a vice presidential candidate on the overall race is generally minimal.
“If people look at JD Vance and think he’s inexperienced, they’re going to think less of Donald Trump and his judgment,” he said. “Not by a lot, but potentially marginal.”
But Mr. Divine noted that despite Mr. Vance’s lack of political experience, he was a “tremendously gifted communicator.”
Additional reporting by Kayla Epstein and Brandon Livesay
