- Sen. Vance told the crowd: ‘Once upon a time I wasn’t a Trump guy either’
Sen. J.D. Vance made his appeal to ‘booing’ firefighters at a conference in Boston on Thursday.
The Republican vice presidential nominee took in stride the commanding boos that came over a chorus of cheers at the International Association of Firefighters conference as he urged them to give him a chance to deliver his ‘pitch’ to earn their vote.
‘Sounds like we’ve got some fans and some haters – that’s OK,’ Vance said.
But he urged the crowd to ‘listen to what i have to say here and I’ll make my pitch.’
Sen. J.D. Vance made his ‘pitch’ for the votes of booing firefighters at a conference in Boston, Massachusetts on Thursday: ‘Now this may come as a shock to you, but once upon a time I wasn’t a Trump guy either’
The Ohio Republican was speaking in the liberal city just one day after his Democratic counterpart for the vice presidential nomination Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz made remarks to the same audience.
Acknowledging that many of those present at the conference on Thursday are not Trump fans, Vance talked about his history not supporting the ex-president to now joining his ticket for 2024 – and explained that it was a firefighter buddy Matt who helped change his mind.
‘I know, this is a diverse union, some of you love President Trump and some of you clearly don’t. I’ve heard from both sides just given this little speech,’ Vance said.
‘Now this may come as a shock to you, but once upon a time I wasn’t a Trump guy either,’ he joked. ‘And trust me the president never lets me forget it.’
‘What you may not know is why I changed my mind,’ he continued. ‘And it was actually in big part because of a firefighter friend from Dayton, Ohio who persuaded me that I was wrong about Donald Trump and that he was right.’
Vance’s flip-flop on being a ‘never Trumper’ to backing him and now running for the White House with him has been widely reported.
And the Republican Senator has taken that reality head-on and claimed that his thoughts on the ex-president changed over time when he saw how his policies were good for America.
‘Over the past 70 years, union membership in this country – and this is not a good thing – but it has declined. The influence of unions has declined, and the wages of working people – union and non union alike – have not kept up with the pace of inflation over the last three-and-a-half years,’ Vance said during his remarks in Boston on Thursday.
‘So I want to ask you a question that Donald Trump asked America in 2016 – what the hell do you have to lose?’ he concluded.
Vance’s remarks came the day after Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz spoke at the same firefighters conference
Vance also earned some boos from the crowd when he said at a different point in his remarks: ‘President Trump and I are proud to be the most pro-worker Republican ticket in history.’
Unions and their members historically lean toward voting Democratic because the party is known to promote policies that are more beneficial to this demographic.
But this year, Teamsters president Sean O’Brien made history by speaking at the first night of the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in July.
Democrats usually secure the coveted endorsement of the Teamsters, which is a union representing more than 1.3 million members across a range of industries from truck driving and transportation workers to health care, food and beverage and construction workers.
The Teamsters have still not officially endorsed a candidate in the 2024 race.
