Republican Ohio Senate candidate J.D. Vance appeared at a Newsmax town hall meeting Wednesday where he discussed a range of topics, from bringing back American jobs to protecting children’s innocence in the classroom.
On the issue of American jobs, a former Air Force veteran asked Vance how he would address struggling middle-class Americans who have become dependent on government welfare in the face of their jobs being shipped overseas.
“People prosper when they have good jobs that support families, not when they just sit at home and get a check from the government,” said Vance. “What happened to Dayton and what happened to Toledo and Middletown, and so many states, is that our leaders decided we don’t need to make stuff here anymore.”
“The steel that we rely on in our buildings, the computer chips that are in everything now, from appliances to phones to cars, the pharmaceuticals that our kids take, all of this stuff is now mainly made overseas by people who don’t like us,” he added. “What happened is a lot of middle-class communities lost the good jobs that support families.”
Vance cited former President Trump’s trade tariffs as an example of combating this epidemic.
“You’re never gonna write enough checks to make up for the fact that we used to be a proud country that made stuff,” he concluded.
"People prosper when they have good jobs that support families, not when they just sit at home and get a check from the government…You're never gonna write enough checks to make up for the fact that we used to be a proud country that made stuff." – @JDVance1 #OHSen pic.twitter.com/VDzvx95t7S
— JD Vance for U.S. Senate Press (@JDVancePress) April 21, 2022
In another exchange, with a high school student, Vance explained why he stands above other candidates in the already crowded primary.
“I don’t do talking points and I don’t do slogans,” Vance said.
Vance noted the town hall was originally supposed to be a debate, but no other candidates showed up.
"Every candidate was invited here. This was supposed to be a debate. One of the differences is I'm not afraid to talk to voters and I'm not afraid to answer tough questions. I think it's pretty cowardly, pretty pathetic that nobody else decided to show up." – @JDVance1 #OHSen pic.twitter.com/dJyKVfNcqi
— JD Vance for U.S. Senate Press (@JDVancePress) April 21, 2022
Perhaps Vance’s strongest moment of the town hall came when he addressed the so-called “Don’t Say Gay” bill being floated in Ohio, which essentially bars teachers from discussing gender or sexuality with children grades K-3.
“I think the media has called this thing a ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill,” Vance asserted. “I think it’s one of the great successes in the media: creating something when there wasn’t anything before. The actual text of the Florida legislation that people call ‘Don’t Say Gay,’ what it says is you should not be able to talk about sexuality and gender identity with children who are K-3.
“You’re talking about five, six, seven, eight-year-old kids. That seems like a pretty good idea,” Vance added, prompting applause from the audience.
WATCH: @JDVance1 schools Woke College Student over anti-groomer legislation #OHSen
"The actual text of the Florida legislation…what it says is you should not be able to talk about sexuality and gender identity with children who are K-3…that seems like a pretty good idea." pic.twitter.com/mVOgrHmRNF
— JD Vance for U.S. Senate Press (@JDVancePress) April 21, 2022
J.D. Vance received a huge bump last week when former President Donald Trump endorsed his candidacy, hailing him as “our best chance for victory in what could be a very tough race.”
“The Democrats will be spending many millions of dollars, but the good news is that they have a defective candidate who ran for President and garnered exactly zero percent in the polls. The bottom line is, we must have a Republican victory in Ohio,” Trump said.
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