J.D. Vance Proves Trump’s America First Legacy Is Here To Stay
By Victoria Marshall
Milwaukee-Wis – When Donald Trump first came down the escalator on June 16, 2015, no pundit could have predicted the transformation that was about to take place in American politics. No one would have predicted that the GOP’s attachment to neoliberal orthodoxy of free trade, foreign wars, and tax cuts would ever be abandoned. And yet Trump, with his finger on the pulse of the disenfranchised, started the realignment of the Republican Party with his 2016 presidential campaign. A realignment to what? Economic protectionism, limited immigration, and dignity for the American worker.
Flash-forward to 2024, Trump has tapped Ohio senator J.D. Vance to run as his vice president. Vance was no strategic pick. He was not chosen to court a specific voting bloc (suburban moms) or to secure a purple state. With the Biden campaign unraveling and the DNC in chaos, along with the sympathy garnered from the horrific assassination attempt on Saturday, Trump didn’t need that electoral boost.
Trump chose Vance because he completes the GOP realignment that started with his 2016 presidential campaign. By choosing Vance as VP, Trump ensures his America First, populist vision for America is here to stay.
“President Trump’s vision is simple, yet so powerful – we won’t cater to Wall Street, we’ll commit to the Working Man,” Vance said in his acceptance speech for the vice presidential nomination at the RNC on Wednesday. “We won’t import foreign labor, we’ll fight for American citizens and their good jobs and their good wages.”
The 39-year-old freshman senator and former Marine grew up the son of a single mom in Appalachia – the subject of his bestselling memoir, Hillbilly Elegy. Vance understands the plight of blue-collar Americans who’ve been abandoned by Washington because he lived it himself.
“Things did not work out well for a lot of kids I grew up with,” Vance said during his speech.
He mentioned that many people in his hometown have died of opioid overdoses, concluding, “America’s ruling class wrote the checks; communities like mine paid the price.”
Seeing how Washington has ignored America’s blue-collar communities clearly inspired Vance’s work during his short tenure in the U.S. Senate. When a train derailed in East Palestine, Ohio, spilling its hazardous contents and contaminating the city’s water, Vance worked tirelessly on residents’ behalf, even working with Democrats to regulate the rail industry. In fact, Vance is not opposed to working with Democrats on shared goals of combatting corporate greed in favor of the working class. He’s co-sponsored Senate bills with Democratic colleagues that lowered the price of insulin and made drug prices more transparent.
Like many America First populists, Vance is a realist when it comes to foreign policy (“Together, we will send our kids to war only when we must,” he said). He is against American involvement in foreign conflicts where there is no strategic interest. He sees no reason why billions of American taxpayer dollars must go to fund the war in Ukraine.
Finally, Vance, like Trump, is a family man. He described his “Mamaw” or hillbilly grandma, as his “guardian angel” growing up. In an emotional moment, Vance looked to his mother, seated in the presidential box and congratulated her for being almost ten years sober. Vance’s mom, with tears in her eyes, mouthed “That’s my son” to House Speaker Mike Johnson.
Despite coming from almost nothing, Vance lived the American dream. Enlisting in the Marines in the wake of 9/11, attending Ohio State through the GI bill and then Yale Law School, and then becoming a U.S. senator – Vance’s ascendancy from such humble beginnings is incredible. Yet Vance’s real pride and joy is his role as husband to Usha Vance and father to their three kids.
Vance wants an America that builds strong families and strong communities, leading to collective human flourishing. He knows that this – and faith – is what gives meaning and belonging to human beings, not just economic prosperity. This is his vision for the forgotten, blue-collar communities across America.
“They love this country, not only because it’s a good idea. But because in their bones, they know that this is their home, and it will be their children’s home, and they would die fighting to protect it,” Vance said. “People will not fight for abstractions. But they will fight for their home.”
So too, J.D. Vance, as vice president, will fight for Trump’s America First vision, ensuring it has a lasting impact on the Republican Party and the country. Vance will do this not because America First is a good set of policy ideals, but because he is fighting for his home: the United States of America.
Victoria Marshall is a reporter for The Family Research Council. She lives in Washington, DC.