Vance vows to fight for forgotten Americans

President Masoud Pezesshkian

Donald Trump’s vice-presidential pick, JD Vance, vowed in a primetime speech to fight for working-class Americans that he argued had been “cast aside and forgotten” by the Democrats.

Introducing himself to millions of Americans watching on TV at home, the Ohio senator channelled his humble roots in the Midwest as he assailed “career politicians” like President Joe Biden.

He argued in his address at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, that Trump was the “last best hope” for Americans.

Trump and his running mate will challenge the Democratic White House ticket, currently Mr Biden and his Vice-President, Kamala Harris, in November’s election.

Mr Biden’s account on X, formerly Twitter, hit back at Mr Vance on Wednesday night, over his positions on abortion and Ukraine.

Mr Vance, 39, is hoping to become one of the youngest vice-presidents in US history.

In the speech, he charted his journey from a difficult childhood in small-town Ohio to the US Marines, Yale Law School, and finally the US Senate.

The author of best-selling memoir Hillbilly Elegy, about his impoverished family in Appalachian coal country, said “America’s ruling class” had destroyed communities like his hometown with trade agreements and foreign wars.

“From Iraq to Afghanistan, from the financial crisis to the Great Recession, from open borders to stagnating wages, the people who govern this country have failed and failed again,” he said.

He continued: “Donald Trump represents America’s last best hope to restore what – if lost – may never be found again. —BBC