Advertisement

Trump’s pick J.D. Vance takes stage protesting US jobs lost in China ‘sweetheart deal’

  • Vance tells Republican convention it’s time to ‘stop the Chinese Communist Party from building their middle class on the backs’ of Americans

Reading Time:4 minutes
Why you can trust SCMP
99+
Donald Trump’s running mate Senator J.D. Vance stands on stage during the Republican National Convention in Wisconsin on July 17. Photo: AFP
US Senator J.D. Vance of Ohio spoke to his working-class roots and took aim at trade deals such as China being accepted to the World Trade Organization in a speech at the Republican National Convention on Wednesday night.
Advertisement
He spoke for around 36 minutes, formally introducing himself to America as Donald Trump’s running mate at the convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Vance blamed a loss of jobs in Ohio and around the country on Joe Biden’s support of the North American Free Trade Agreement and China becoming a member of the WTO in 2001.

“When I was in the fourth grade, a career politician by the name of Joe Biden supported Nafta, a bad trade deal that sent countless good jobs to Mexico,” he said.

“That same career politician named Joe Biden gave China a sweetheart trade deal that destroyed even more good American middle-class manufacturing jobs.”

02:10

US presidential elections: Trump running mate J.D. Vance slams ‘fake’ Joe Biden

US presidential elections: Trump running mate J.D. Vance slams ‘fake’ Joe Biden

Describing Ohio as a place that had been “forgotten by America’s ruling class in Washington”, Vance blamed establishment politicians for letting unemployment and drugs take hold there, and beyond.

Advertisement
Advertisement