Senator JD Vance, chosen by Donald Trump to second him in his campaign, called on Wednesday for America to “choose a new path” that puts workers at its center, during his major speech at the Republican convention in Milwaukee.
“We will be united in victory,” said the man who will become vice president of the United States if the former Republican president wins in November, addressing his party.
During this new prime time evening, the 39-year-old elected official, in a blue suit and tie, formally accepted the Republican nomination.
He praised the “extraordinary vision” of Donald Trump, seated in a red grandstand at Milwaukee’s large sports complex where thousands of “Make America Great Again” activists filled the stands in a festive atmosphere.
Coming from a modest background and the author of a best-selling book describing the rural and deindustrialized America of the forgotten, he drew applause from his mother, a former drug addict “sober for 10 years.” He also paid tribute to his late grandmother, who raised him, by indicating that she owned 19 firearms.
“We’re done serving Wall Street, ladies and gentlemen, we’re going to stand up for workers,” said the senator from Ohio, a former stronghold of American industry.
“Importing foreign labor is over. We will fight for American citizens, their jobs and their wages,” he promised.
” American dream “
Just before going on stage, JD Vance exchanged an embrace with his wife Usha, a brilliant lawyer who announced him on stage as a “powerful illustration of the American dream.”
The elected official with the atypical profile was propelled into the spotlight when Donald Trump announced on Monday that he had chosen him as his running mate in the race for the White House.
For a presidential candidate, this choice often responds to the objective of attracting new voters.
JD Vance, an anti-establishment elected official with a unique background, having had a career in both the military and Silicon Valley, should reassure the party’s most right-wing voters, while Donald Trump is trying to make inroads among moderates.
In the US Senate, this tall, dark-haired man with piercing blue eyes distinguished himself by his fierce opposition to aid to Ukraine.
Without naming kyiv directly, he pledged Wednesday to ensure “that our allies share the burden of maintaining peace in the world,” before launching into a lengthy anti-immigration tirade, in which he accused Democrats of having “flooded this country with millions of illegal immigrants.”
Furthermore, if Donald Trump, 78, were elected, JD Vance would become the third youngest vice president in US history.
On a lighter note, the American media notes that the executive branch has not seen a president or vice president with a beard in a hundred years. A constant that would end with JD Vance, who sports a carefully trimmed salt and pepper beard.
His selection by the Republican candidate is also and above all explained by his loyalty.
Although he has been a vocal critic of Donald Trump in the past, Vance has made a complete turnaround to emerge as one of the most ardent defenders of the billionaire and his MAGA, “Make America Great Again” ideology.
Trump’s speech on Thursday
Among the delegates listening to Vance, dozens of them symbolically wore a fake white bandage over their ear imitating that of Donald Trump, the victim of an assassination attempt on Saturday.
The crowd, gathered in Milwaukee’s sprawling multi-purpose arena, once again chanted “Fight!” “Fight!” — the same words Donald Trump shouted with a raised fist and blood on his face as he stood up after being shot in Pennsylvania.
But the highlight of the carefully choreographed Grand Old Party gathering will come Thursday night when Donald Trump formally accepts his party’s nomination.
The occasion for a spectacular celebration, punctuated by the traditional release of thousands of red, white and blue balloons.
It will be the first time the Republican has spoken on stage since his assassination attempt.
Barely after the convention, Donald Trump will fly to Michigan on Saturday where he will hold a campaign rally, exactly one week after the attack.
JD Vance will take his place on stage next to him.