Vice presidential nominee JD Vance will draw upon his poor upbringing in Appalachia in his keynote address while promising voters that he won’t forget the small Midwestern town where he comes from.
“Never in my wildest imagination would I have believed that I could be standing here tonight,” Vance, a 39-year-old first-term senator, will say, according to excerpts of his remarks released by the campaign.
He grew up in Middletown, Ohio, “a small town where people spoke their minds, built with their hands, and loved their God, family, community and country with their whole hearts.”
In the speech, he uses his youth to help draw a contrast with Biden, 81, who is more than twice his age.
Vance notes he was in fourth grade when “a career politician by the name of Joe Biden supported NAFTA, a bad trade deal that sent countless good American manufacturing jobs to Mexico.”
“In small towns like mine in Ohio, or next door in Pennsylvania, or in Michigan and other states across our country, jobs were sent overseas and children were sent to war.”
He’ll also reference his mother, a single mom “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.”
Vance will conclude his remarks with a promise to the American people:
“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.”
