Vice Presidential Debate Offers JD Vance an Opportunity to Overcome Campaigns: NPR

Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance speaks to a crowd during a rally at the Berks County Fairgrounds on September 21 in Leesport, Pennsylvania.

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Ohio's Republican vice presidential candidate, Senator JD Vance, has been an aggressive proclaimer of Donald Trump's campaign vision for the future and is a constant companion, giving interviews and answering questions from the press.

But in the 11 weeks since Vance joined the Republican presidential nomination, that message has been borne out was marred by controversy – often caused by Vance himself.

His acceptance speech in Milwaukee at the Republican National Convention was heavily biographical, suggesting a more sophisticated take on Trump's often dark rhetoric.

“My friends, tonight is a night of hope,” he said. “A celebration of what America once was and, with God’s grace, will soon be again.” And it is a reminder of the sacred duty to preserve the American experiment and choose a new path for our children and grandchildren.”

Vance's election came as Trump was leading in key polls following President Biden's poor debate performance and Republicans were rallying around Trump after an assassination attempt in Pennsylvania. The freshman senator from Ohio was considered the MAGA heir for the future of the party.

But in the run-up to Tuesday's vice presidential debate between Vance and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, there were two contradictory forces at work: the message Vance wants to spread and what actually sticks.

Attend his first solo campaign event in his hometown, just days after the RNC, where he delivered a populist speech vowing to bring “forgotten communities across the country” back to life.

“We will fight for every single worker in this country,” he said. “If you work hard and follow the rules, you should be able to put a good dinner on the table and send your kids on the vacation and school you want.”

But another line that caught the public's attention – and not for good reason – was a comment about Diet Mountain Dew.

“Democrats say it’s racist to believe — well, they say it’s racist to do anything,” he said. “I had a Diet Mountain Dew yesterday and today. I’m sure they’ll call it racist too.”

Older comments were met with criticism

In the days that followed, Trump struggled to quickly pivot his campaign message toward Vice President Harris after President Biden dropped out of the race, but Vance quickly filled in the gaps to question her record and make her the focus of attacks on immigration , inflation and other key Republican issues.

When Harris named Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate and the pair launched a swing-state blitz, Vance was there, too, countering the Democratic message with a plea for a Republican presidency.

“It is ordinary people who suffer when Kamala Harris refuses to do her job, and it is ordinary people who stand to gain the most if we re-elect Donald J. Trump as president of the United States,” he said said in Philadelphia.

But Vance's rapid rise in politics means he has relatively little campaign experience when it comes to delivering campaign speeches or navigating the intense scrutiny of past and current statements.

So the prebuttal tour came as Vance was also dealing with uproar over old comments in which he mocked the ruling Democrats with the quote “childless cat ladies.”

“It’s not a criticism of people who don’t have children,” Vance said in one interview with Megyn Kelly. “Although the media lied about this, I made it clear in my remarks that this is not about criticizing people who, for various reasons, did not have children. This is about criticizing the Democratic Party for becoming anti-family and anti-children.”

But the damage was done, as Vance's old comments gave Democrats an opportunity to attack the GOP ticket as sexist and out of touch with reality.

His false claims about migrants have also caused controversy

Then there are more recent statements, like a weeks-long inflammatory campaign against Haitian migrants living in Springfield, Ohio, which Vance is trying to use as a cudgel to attack Democrats over immigration.

“The American media completely ignored this stuff until Donald Trump and I started talking about cat memes,” Vance said in one September 15 CNN interview. “If I have to make up stories so that the American media will actually pay attention to the suffering of the American people, then I will.”

State and local Republican leaders in Ohio have dismissed claims by Trump and Vance about Haitian migrants in Springfield. The mayor of the city told news outlets that Vance's aides knew the pet-eating conspiracies were false before Trump uttered the lies on the debate stage last month.

On several occasions, Vance also staked out policy positions for the ticket that Trump later disagreed with or opposed, such as when Vance said Trump would veto a nationwide abortion ban.

“To be fair, I haven’t discussed it with JD,” Trump said on the debate stage. “And I don’t mind if he has a certain opinion, but I don’t think he spoke for me.”

While Trump offered a “concept of a plan” for health care, Vance answered a question after a campaign speech in Raleigh, North Carolina, with more details about how Republicans would expand health insurance risk pools under the Affordable Care Act, a largely unpopular proposal. would revise.

Vance's interactions with reporters can be difficult

Elsewhere in the campaign, Vance also proved prolific in communicating the campaign's goals, conducting frequent media interviews, giving speeches and answering questions after almost every stop – prioritizing local journalists.

But these question-and-answer sessions can get contentious, as the crowd often boos questions from journalists, while Vance takes the opportunity to portray himself as a pugilist for Trump, whether on questions about interest rate cuts or questions about supporting North Carolina Lt . through the campaign. Governor Mark Robinson, who more than a decade ago allegedly described himself as a “Black Nazi,” including on a porn forum. (Robinson has denied the claim.)

Vance, who was a combat correspondent in the Marine Corps, regularly lectures reporters about what he believes is unfair coverage of him, often instructing them to ask Harris questions instead.

Even in more casual campaign situations, Vance sometimes struggled to connect. During a stop at a donut shop in Valdosta, Georgia, an employee was awkwardly embarrassed by the candidate – she then asked not to be caught on camera. On another visit to a sandwich shop in Pennsylvania last weekend, Vance was left standing outside in a parking lot after initial confusion because the store's employees were never informed of his visit in advance.

All of these things contributed to Vance's lowest popularity rating in this year's presidential election — and one of the worst of any vice presidential election in recent history.