Vice President JD Vance urged voters uneasy with the Iran war to stick with Republicans for the midterms, acknowledging the conflict’s unpopularity among Americans as it stretches past six months.
The vice president’s appeal to Republicans on day two of the party’s midterm convention in Dallas marked a crucial point in the administration’s recognition of how unpopular some of their policies are among members of their base ahead of November.
Vance said he was speaking directly to voters on the fence and people “who love some of our policies but maybe don’t agree with others.” Referencing the late conservative commentator Charlie Kirk, who died a year ago on Sept. 10, the vice president asked voters to coalesce around Republicans, even if they disagree with the White House’s actions.
“Do not throw the baby out with the bathwater. Don’t give the country over to a bunch of crazy people because you happen to disagree with us on a policy issue here or there,” Vance said on Thursday.
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“I’m not asking anybody to agree with me on every single policy of the administration,” the vice president added. “What I am asking you to do is to recognize the contrast with the radicals and recognize the achievements of the last 18 months.”
In his 40-minute speech, Vance didn’t express opposition to the war, which is widely unpopular: Roughly two-thirds of Americans — and an even greater percentage of young voters — oppose the conflict, according to a July poll from The Associated Press.
Vance briefly mentioned young men throughout his speech, also while referencing Kirk. Some young men have said they are disillusioned by the president’s second term, with Trump’s approval rating among the group sinking by about 10 percentage points earlier this year.
Trump downplayed those concerns when Fox News’ Laura Ingraham asked about “demoralized” young male supporters during an interview that aired earlier Thursday evening.
“I don’t think they’re demoralized — I think they’re very proud of the fact that I’m not letting Iran have a nuclear weapon,” Trump said. “I disagree with you.”
In between hammering Democrats on affordability and promising additional economic boosts should Republicans maintain congressional control, Vance also spoke at length Thursday about Americans’ “birthright” ownership over the country. He cited an inaccurate figure of 25 million immigrants allowed through the border under the Biden administration and cast undocumented immigrants as responsible for employment and housing shortages. The vice president said Americans had grown tired of factory closures, overdoses and rising costs.
“We were tired of being called racist for noticing that our country was becoming dirtier and poorer and less safe and less prosperous,” he said.
When a protester interrupted waving a flag, Vance derided the person’s prop as anti-American for several minutes, prompting long cheers from the audience.
“Well, my friend, if you love Mexico so much, get your ass over there. I’ll buy you the plane ticket,” he said, firing up the arena’s crowd, which chanted “48! 48!” in a reference to a potential future Vance presidency.
The vice president also spent a portion of his remarks mocking Michigan Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed — who recently quipped that second lady Usha Vance would not have met her grandfather-in-law because of her race — and Texas Senate nominee James Talarico.
He jabbed at Talarico’s past comments about gender, including God being “non-binary” — remarks the candidate has since walked back.
“I don’t know about you,” Vance said, ”but I never want to see that guy’s web browser history.”
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