Donald Trump’s vice presidential running mate J.D. Vance vowed to fight for “forgotten” workers in a speech at the Republican National Conference on Wednesday night.
Vance, made famous thanks to his book Hillbilly Elegy and it’s widely-panned movie adaptation, spoke about his own journey from childhood in an industrial Ohio town, through the US Marines, Yale Law School and venture capitalism.
Vance, formally accepting the party's 2024 nomination, said: “I grew up in Middletown, Ohio, a small town where people spoke their minds, built with their hands and loved their God, their family, their community and their country with their whole hearts.
“But it was also a place that had been cast aside and forgotten by America's ruling class in Washington.”
He accused "career politicians" like President Joe Biden - who Vance noted has been in politics longer than he has been alive - of destroying communities like his with ill-fated trade policies and foreign wars.
"President Trump's vision is so simple and yet so powerful," he said.
"We're done, ladies and gentlemen, catering to Wall Street. We'll commit to the working man."
Vance once referred to Trump as ‘America’s Hitler’ and faces mounting criticism over his previous remarks calling for a nationwide abortion ban.
But his prime-time debut, less than two years after assuming his first public office, capped a meteoric rise that coincided with his transformation from a fierce Trump detractor to one of his most devoted defenders.
He is one of several high-profile Republicans, such as U.S. Senators Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio, whose reversals from critics to loyalists underscore Trump's takeover of the party.
Vance’s speech embraced many of Trumpism's core tenets, promising to prioritize domestic manufacturing over Chinese imports and warning allies they would no longer get "free rides" in securing world peace.
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Vance has opposed military aid for Ukraine and defended Trump's attempts to overturn his 2020 election loss to Biden. He has argued the government must do more to assist the working class by restricting imports, raising the minimum wage and cracking down on corporate largesse. Those positions, at odds with the Republican Party's traditional pro-business stance, nonetheless track Trump's program closely.
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