MILWAUKEE (WHDH) – First-term Ohio Sen. JD Vance has been at former President Donald Trump’s side since Trump announced him as his running mate at the Republican National Convention on Monday.
As the RNC entered its third day, and as Vance prepared set to deliver his much-anticipated speech to delegates, members of Massachusetts’ GOP delegation on Wednesday predicted they will like what Vance has to say.
“I think he’s got a unique opportunity to share his story which is really an American story,” said Michael Valanzola. “It’s a story of very humble beginnings that has now transcended him to the US Senate and to become a nominee for vice president.”
Once a Trump critic, Vance ascended to national attention with his bestselling 2016 memoir “Hillbilly Elegy”.
Vance changed his tune and began supporting Trump before winning his first senate election in 2021 with the former president’s backing.
After already appearing in the convention hall in Milwaukee on multiple occasions this week, Vance is set to headline Wednesday’s speaking program.
When he takes the stage, he will be introduced by wife, Usha Vance, a mother of three and a proud daughter of Indian immigrants.
“It shows this family unit which is important,” said former Bristol County sheriff and Trump’s Massachusetts campaign chairman, Thomas Hodgson. “We need to get back to family. And I think that they’re both very spiritual people and that’s a big part of where we need to go too in this country.”
As someone who, himself, burst onto the national scene, former Massachusetts senator and former ambassador Scott Brown said he knows what Vance is facing.
“I remember the onslaught of people saying ‘He’s this, he’s that.’ And he’s going to need to make his own mark like I did,” Brown said.
Brown said there are similarities between his story and Vance’s.
“We both basically started from nothing. He was in Ohio in the hills and I was mom and dad married and divorced four times each, arrested at 12,” Brown said. “He’s gonna have his work cut out for him but he seems to have a strong family, strong faith and he will have a good team around him.”
While Trump himself is not scheduled to speak until Thursday, many have noticed a more subdued appearance after he survived an assassination attempt on Saturday.
Florida Congressman Byron Donalds has been at the RNC with Trump and has been among those noticing the changes.
“When you literally face death, I think, first he’s really taking it all in,” Donalds told 7NEWS.
“His resolve is strengthened,” he continued. “His focus is that much tighter. But it’s not just on ‘How do I get through an election?’ It’s not about that anymore. It’s about ‘What are we going to do and how are we going to do it so that all Americans can thrive and succeed?’”
After the RNC wraps up on Thursday, Trump and Vance are scheduled to take their newly-minted ticket on the road for a rally in the battleground state of Michigan this weekend.
While the campaign continues, Vice President Kamala Harris on Wednesday released a new video criticizing Vance as a “rubber stamp” for Trump and what she said is Trump’s “extreme agenda.”
Trump separately prepared for his convention speech with a walkthrough of the event on the convention stage.
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