zWe write with whatever we can find. Pens, markers, lipstick if necessary. Visitors to the Republican Convention in Milwaukee, a jumble of thousands in a bright red-decorated stadium, lean over their campaign signs. Another name needs to be added, including Donald Trump.
A man with a grey beard has just appeared on the screen. Thunderous cheers. One by one, the plates fly out again. Now they also have handwritten words: ‘Vance’.
A little later he appears in the room. JD Vance (39) is struggling through a forest of overhead telephones. He waves. “We love you!” someone shouts. The new vice presidential candidate has tears in his eyes.
About the Author
Thomas Rueb is a correspondent in the United States of of Volkskrant. He lives in New York.
You can read all about the American elections in this file.
game show
This moment has been a long time coming. Trump treated the choice of his “vice president” as if it were a contest. He mocked numerous names during campaign appearances, and his supporters were given colorful selection forms. This included, for example, the moderate senator Marco Rubio, who could appeal to the Latin American electorate because of his Cuban origin. The deeply religious Tim Scott, the only black Republican in the Senate, was also suggested. They are making a mistake.
Trump has chosen someone who is often referred to as a younger version of himself. In doing so, he is focusing on another equally essential target group: white Americans. Rusty Belt.
Drug addict mother
‘Great choice! Fantastic!’ Republican Stacy Garrity (59) can’t believe her luck at the convention. Garrity (red hair, white denim jacket) represents the important swing state of Pennsylvania as a delegate in Milwaukee. She chose Joe Biden in 2020. Garrity clenches her fists. “With Vance as my candidate, I’m going to be the best candidate in the world.” vice We’re going to take back the Rust Belt.’
James David ‘JD’ Vance is a senator from the neighboring state of Ohio. Like Pennsylvania, it is considered the heart of American industry. This so-called ‘Rust Belt’ also includes the swing states of Michigan and Wisconsin. The candidate who wins these states is almost certain to become president. And few politicians know how to stir the soul of the Rust Belt like Vance.
In Ohio, Vance grew up in poverty, the son of a single mother who was a drug addict. After high school, he joined the army. Vance ended up in Iraq as a marine. After returning safely, he was able to study at the prestigious Ivy League university of Yale. He made a career for himself with conservative investor Peter Thiel.
The general public knows Vance in a different way. His book will be published in 2016, the year of Trump’s election. Peasant ElegyThis acclaimed novel, adapted into a film by Netflix, describes her own childhood in Ohio. At the same time, the book serves as a grim but loving portrait of life in America’s Rust Belt: drug abuse, economic decline, and an unbearable sense of hopelessness that white, middle-class families immediately recognize. It will be a bestseller.
Vance also gained fame for something else during that time. The young Rust Belt chronicler is vocal about his distaste for the man he calls “America’s Hitler”: Donald Trump.
Transformation
JD Vance is a man of great transformations. The writer Vance, still clean-shaven, calls himself a “Never Trumper.” In the media he warns against the demagogue who leads his beloved middle class to “a dark place.” “A cultural heroine,” he calls the president. But when Vance develops his own political ambitions, he radically changes his mind.
In 2022, Vance, now bearded, will run for the Senate. Like no other, he knows how to emulate and strengthen Trump’s masculine populism. There is a good dose of opportunism involved. “I had to make a choice,” Vance admits. Washington PostTo achieve political success, he says, “you can’t be boring.”
Vance is emerging as the most striking and youngest standard-bearer of Trump’s culturally regressive ‘MAGA’ movement, behind the slogan Making America Great AgainAccording to him, climate change is “not a threat.” He lashes out at migration, abortion and support for Ukraine.
Hardly any American politician goes further in defending Trump against his perceived enemies. Vance tirelessly repeats and spreads lies about fraud after the 2020 election. He buys access to the inner circle. There, Vance befriends Donald Jr., Trump’s son, who openly campaigns for his candidacy and with whom he shares a striking and much-discussed physical resemblance.
This week, Vance was by far the loudest voice in the wake of the attempt on Trump’s life in Pennsylvania. Without hesitation, he blamed President Biden. “Biden’s rhetoric,” Vance said, “led directly to the failed assassination of Trump.”
‘Fight fight’
“What more could you ask for?” Stacy Garrity shouts in Milwaukee. “Look how young he is! And also a veteran who has known poverty.” Further away, surrounded by acolytes, Vance enjoys the applause. His lower jaw quivers.
Trump had the option to ask for a more moderate voice on his side. He did not do that. Vance’s election is an election for a new generation of radical right.
His candidacy is formally confirmed in the stadium by acclamation. ‘Who is in favour?’ The audience shouts ‘Yes!’ When asked who is against, the thousands of delegates collectively fall silent.
That night, as lightning strikes Milwaukee, Trump himself makes an appearance. It is his first public appearance since the shooting. Trump’s ear is wrapped in bandages. The former president climbs the steps of the VIP gallery and strides toward the man he has just crowned as his number two.
‘Struggle‘The crowd chants, Trump’s cry from the heart after the attack.’Fight fight.’ They shake hands, the old and the new. Both smile.
