“America First” –

The United States “needs leaders who put America first.” So “America must choose a new path” and “Americans, this moment is not regarding me, it’s regarding all of us, all Americans who are struggling.” Thus, greeted by a standing ovation, Republican Senator JD Vance, chosen by Donald Trump as his running mate, formally accepted the nomination at the convention in Milwaukee. Supporting Trump as the president Americans need, Vance said that “they said he was a tyrant. They said he had to be stopped at all costs. But how did he respond? He called for national unity right following an assassin nearly took his life.”

America, he added, needs a leader who “responds to working people, union and non-union,” because “there is so much talent and grit in the heart of America.” Calling on his childhood in Ohio, saying that “Joe Biden screwed up and my community paid the price,” he appealed to white, working-class voters in swing states to boost his support, saying, “To all the forgotten communities in Michigan, Wisconsin, Ohio, Pennsylvania and every corner of our nation, I promise you this: I will be a vice president who never forgets where he came from.”

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He specifically addressed “the autoworkers in Michigan who wonder why out-of-touch politicians are destroying their jobs.” And then “the factory worker in Wisconsin who makes things with his own hands and takes pride in American craftsmanship.” And then “the energy workers in Pennsylvania and Ohio who don’t understand why Joe Biden is willing to buy energy from two-bit dictators around the world when he might buy it from American workers right here in his own country.” Vance then turned to his mother, in the audience, telling of her struggle with addiction. “Our movement is regarding single moms like mine who have struggled with money and addiction, but have never given up. And I’m proud to say my mom is here: 10 years clean and sober. I love you, Mom,” Vance concluded.