MILWAUKEE — Sen. J.D. Vance addressed the nation for the first time as Donald Trump’s running mate Wednesday night — vowing to fight for everyday working Americans in a soul-stirring and deeply personal speech in which spoke about his mom’s battle with addiction and his working-class upbringing.
The 39-year-old Ohio senator, who was greeted with thunderous applause, was officially nominated as Trump’s VP on Monday but had been saving his remarks until the end of the night on the third day, building up eagerness from the crowd.
Vance’s official acceptance of the VP nomination was profoundly emotional, laden with tales of his background growing up in rural Ohio and his vision for America’s future.
His speech echoed the story he describes in “Hillbilly Elegy” — the best-selling book that brought him to fame in 2016, which details his upbringing in a working-class family and the deterioration of the Rust Belt.
He contrasted his age with President Biden’s long experience in politics, describing how the 81-year-old career politician impacted small towns like his with his policies that led to jobs being “sent overseas” and children being “sent to war.”
”Joe Biden screwed up, and my community paid the price,” Vance declared, noting that Biden “has been a politician” longer than he’s been alive.
An introductory video played ahead of his speech highlighted Vance’s story of “perseverance” and said he has an “American story” of dedication and success. It described how he came from a life of “poverty” and ended up serving in the US Marines, attending Yale Law School and eventually becoming a senator.
He began his speech by speaking of Trump’s resilience in getting back on the campaign trail less than 48 hours after being shot by a gunman at a Pennsylvania rally.
”My fellow Americans, my name is J.D. Vance, from the great state of Ohio. Tonight is a night of hope. A celebration of what America once was, and with God’s grace, what it will soon be again. And it is a reminder of the sacred duty that we have to preserve the American experiment, to choose a new path for our children and grandchildren.
“But as we meet tonight, we cannot forget that this evening could have been much different. Instead of a day of celebration, this could have been a day of heartache and mourning,” Vance said, noting that the bullet missed Trump’s head by a “quarter of an inch.
“Vance said Trump’s response to the shooting, when he stood up and raised his fist in the air, was to call Americans to “something higher” and a call for true “unity.”
The senator said he, too, wants to answer that call to unity in accepting the VP nomination.
Delving into the personal, Vance gave a shoutout to his grandmother, “Mamaw,” who raised him from a young age and saved him from the addiction-filled poverty he could have been subjected to.
“Now, I was lucky. Despite the closing factories and the growing addiction in towns like mine, in my life, I had a guardian angel by my side. She was an old woman who could barely walk but was tough as nails. I called her ‘Mamaw,’ the name we hillbillies gave to our grandmothers. Mamaw raised me as her own as my own mother struggled with addiction. Thanks to Mamaw, things worked out for me,” Vance said.
He also called out his mother, Beverly Aikins, who was seated in a Trump VIP box next to House Speaker Mike Johnson.
He praised his mom’s strength to overcome her addiction.
He said this “moment” is not just about him but it’s about “the auto worker in Michigan, wondering why out-of-touch politicians are destroying your jobs.”It’s about the factory worker in Wisconsin, who makes things with their hands and is proud of American craftsmanship,” he continued.
“It’s about the energy worker in Pennsylvania and Ohio, who doesn’t understand why Joe Biden is willing to buy energy from tinpot dictators but not hard-working Americans right here at home.”
And more personally, “it’s about single moms like mine, who struggled with money and addiction but never gave up.”
“And I am proud to say that tonight my mom is here, 10 years clean and sober. I love you, mom.”
He then added he would like to celebrate the milestone at the White House.
“You know, Mom, I was thinking, it’ll be 10 years, officially, in January of 2025 — and if President Trump’s okay with it, let’s have the celebration in the White House. “
Vance described his tumultuous relationship with his mother in his book “Hillbilly Elegy,” revealing that she struggled with drug addiction. Vance was raised by his grandparents James and Bonnie Vance and later changed his last name to take after his grandfather.
Aikins has been a supporter of Vance’s career. Her profile picture on Facebook features him as a baby and she has posted in favor of his senate campaign and him being selected as VP, writing “so very proud of my Marine.”
Vance, speaking about his own story and how his hometown was ravaged by Biden’s policies, said America needs Trump in order to restore the American Dream.
“Donald Trump represents America’s last best hope to restore what – if lost – may never be found again,” he said.
”I pledge to every American – no matter your party, I will give everything I have to serve you and to make this country a place where every dream you have for yourself, your family, and your country will be possible once again. And I promise you one more thing – the people of Middletown, Ohio, and all the forgotten communities in Michigan, Wisconsin, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and every corner of our Nation. I promise you this – I will never forget where I came from. And every single day for the next four years, when I walk into that White House to help President Trump, I will be doing it for you and for your family and for your future,” he powerfully declared in his debut remarks.
Vance’s wife, Usha Vance, took to the stage right before her husband. Usha and J.D. Vance met at Yale Law school and got married in 2014, one year after graduation. They share three children and the senator has credited his wife with knowing how to “manage” him in times of stress.
Usha spoke of the love she has for her husband and recalled how they had met at Yale, and how she watched him grow to become a “husband and a father and to build the kind of tight-knit family that he had longed for as a child.”
The senator had previewed his speech earlier at a fundraiser event Wednesday, saying he wanted to “fire up the crowd” and make the “case” for a Trump-Vance administration.
Vance also praised Trump for toning down “the temperature” after being shot Saturday night. After the gunman shot him in the ear in Pennsylvania, nearly missing his skull, Vance said he was “pissed” and “terrified we lost a great president.”
Vance supporters — including Trump — have highlighted the Midwestern’s background as a strength for the Trump-Vance ticket.
The newly-minted Trump VP pick also argued that the former president is the best candidate to connect “with the working people,” not Biden.
“They know he has their best interest at heart,” Vance said of Trump’s relationship with the working class, before arguing those voters know they should vote Republican.
“Those same exact families would say, absolutely, yes, it is time to go back to the leadership of Donald Trump,” he said in his preview speech.
“It is time to get rid of the corrupt Biden-Harris regime that has broken this country, that has ruined its reputation in the world and, most importantly, has made a basic middle-class life less affordable for our citizens.”
He ended his rousing RNC speech with a powerful vow: “I promise you this, I will be a vice president, who never forgets where he came from.”