On Wednesday July 17, the third day of the Republican National Convention (RNC) in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, JD Vance delivered his acceptance speech as running mate of former president Donald Trump.

In November, the duo will face the incumbent president, Joe Biden and vice president, Kamala Harris, in the election for the next four-year term in the White House.

Vance took the stage to promise Americans that the Republican Party will “put America first”, reverse Joe Biden’s “failed” foreign policies, and bring unity to America. He called Wednesday night “the night of hope”.

During his address, Vance focused mainly on how, if elected, he and Trump will help American workers get better wages and jobs. “Joe Biden is willing to buy energy from tinpot dictators across the world when he can buy it from his own citizens, right here in our own country,” Vance said.

He also touched on poorer, rural communities in the Midwest, such as Middletown, Ohio, where he was born in 1984 (according to experts, Trump put Vance on the ticket to secure the votes of white, working-class Americans from states like Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania).

Vance accused Joe Biden – who, by the time Vance was born, was already a US senator for Delaware – of being responsible for the plight of working-class Americans. He said that his hometown “has been casted aside and forgotten by America’s ruling class in Washington.”

He went on to criticise Biden for supporting trade-opening policies such the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA, 1994), for allowing trade with China and the invasion of Iraq.“Jobs were sent overseas and our children were sent to war,” he added. He omitted to mention that the war in Iraq was started in 2003 by a Republican president, George W Bush, and that Trump supported it.

“President Trump represents America’s last best hope to restore what, if lost, may never be found again, a country where a working-class boy born far from the halls of power can stand on this stage as the next vice president of the United States of America,” he said, returning to his personal history.

He catapulted himself to fame with a book. Published in 2016, his Hillbilly Elegy became so popular that Netflix made it into a movie. When Trump took office in 2016, CBS News described Vance’s politically-themed, personal memoir as “a bible of sorts for leaders and the media to better understand people who voted for Trump”.

Vance’s career has skyrocketed since then. He was only elected to the Senate in 2022; just two years later, he has joined Trump as vice president on the Republican ticket. Given that they lead in the polls – and Trump’s age, 78, which makes the choice of VP particularly significant – he has achieved one of the most striking political careers in decades.

It is worth noting, however, that Vance’s views about Donald Trump have changed massively since 2016, when he did not vote for Trump or believed that he would be a good president, allegedly even calling him “America’s Hitler”. Now, he fully supports Trump’s manifesto.

Abortion

Vance has hardline anti-abortion views. He “described abortion as “the first political issue I can ever remember caring about”. In 2021, he was asked about exceptions to abortion law, such as rape and incest, and he answered, “two wrongs don’t make a right.” However, in 2022, he admitted that abortion is allowed under “reasonable exceptions” and agreed with a “‘minimum national standard’ to restrict abortion after a certain number of weeks, though he did not specify how many.

Guns

The National Rifle Association (NRA) has praised Vance for his record on gun rights. He rejected toughening gun laws and the “Democrat-led effort to ban bump stocks” (which allows semi-automatic rifles to fire hundreds of bullets per minute). In 2022, he supported calls to abolish the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), which issues gun licences.

Immigration and theborder

In terms of immigration and the border with Mexico, Vance supports “stricter immigration policies as a way to protect US security and the labour market,” according to The Washington Post. On the first day of the RNC, Vance told Fox News that he believes the United States should deport some of the roughly 11 million undocumented immigrants in the country. Last year, he introduced a bill allowing for people with overstayed visas to be caught.

Economy

Vance has called for a higher minimum wage and higher taxes on corporations. He has also defended “Trump’s aggressive trade proposals, including for tariff hikes on imported goods.” As Vance is Trump’s running mate, he is more likely to follow Trump’s economic agenda, “which features more traditional conservative policies such as tax cuts and is heavily favoured by big business groups.”

Wars in Ukraine and Gaza

Vance has been a long-term critic of Washington’s support for Ukraine, claiming that “the United States cannot sustain its support for a war with no clear endpoint.” He voted against the $95bn national security bill that included support for both Ukraine and Israel, which was passed earlier this year.

But in terms of Israel’s war in Gaza, he thinks that the US should support it. He has suggested that providing Israel with precision-guided weapons would reduce Palestinian casualties.

Health care, and gender-affirming care for minors

Vance told AARP in 2022 that “he would protect funding for Medicare and supports allowing its administrators to negotiate prescription drug prices with manufacturers.” In addition, he also suggested that “American companies and pharmacies should be able to purchase drugs from overseas to lower prices.”

In terms of gender-affirming health care for minors, Vance opposes it. Last year, he introduced a Senate bill that criminalises those who provide puberty blockers, hormonal treatments or surgical interventions to minors. He stated that, “under no circumstances should doctors be allowed to perform these gruesome, irreversible operations on underage children.”

Climate change and energy

Formerly a supporter of clean energy, Vance has changed his stance since becoming a senator and is now a strong advocate for the fossil fuel industry. He also says he is “sceptical of the idea that climate change is caused purely by man.” He told Fox News that “the United States could achieve energy ‘dominance’ by boosting its exploitation of domestic fossil fuel resources.”

On Saturday, July 20, JD Vance and Donald Trump will hold their first-ever rally together in Grand Rapids, Michigan − and Harbingers’ Magazine will be there.