Trump's V-P pick Vance wastes no time in attacking China

The political novice picked by Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump to be his running mate has revealed himself to be an effective speaker with the intellectual heft and authenticity to explain and sell Trumpism – the mix of nationalism, populism and conservatism that defines the party today.

- Bhagyashree Garekar

Perhaps far better than the billionaire New York real estate mogul whose Make America Great Again (Maga) movement and “America first” policies won him the White House in 2016.

Given the stage to introduce himself to delegates at the Republican National Convention on July 17, first-time senator J.D. Vance, elected in 2022, dipped into his experience of growing up in a small, white working-class town hollowed out by globalism to assert that his party truly understands the challenges of ordinary Americans.

The made-to-order Maga man repeated with ease Trump’s frequent accusations – sometimes unfounded and others partially true – that President Joe Biden’s “failed” policies had meant China was “stealing” American manufacturing jobs and fuelling the fentanyl crisis.

“Our country was flooded with cheap Chinese goods, with cheap foreign labour. And in the decades to come, deadly Chinese fentanyl,” Mr Vance said in a key part of his 36-minute late-night speech.

“Joe Biden screwed up, and my community paid the price.”

In 2023, it was reported that fentanyl, a highly potent synthetic opioid, had become the leading cause of death for Americans between 18 and 49 years old, and the drug was blamed for the historic drop in American life expectancy.

“We will protect the wages of American workers and stop the Chinese Communist Party from building their middle class on the backs of American citizens,” Mr Vance said, providing an early glimpse of what is likely to be his key campaign message.

But this moment was not about himself, Mr Vance insisted.