Interview with JD Vance (U.S. Senate candidate, Ohio)

Marietta Times ^ | Sep 4 | MICHELE NEWBANKS

[RandFan]

Republican candidate for U.S. Senate JD Vance will visit Marietta again Saturday as part of the Washington County Fair Parade.

He is one of several who have filed for the soon-to-be-vacated seat of U.S. Senator Rob Portman (R-OH), who decided not to run for reelection in 2022.

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Question: What made you decide to run for U.S. Senate?

Vance: I grew up in Middletown, Ohio, a poor manufacturing town located in the rust belt of Ohio. My grandparents moved there from Appalachian Kentucky hoping that their children would have better lives than they did. I believed in the American Dream, and I’m grateful for the opportunities this country afforded me. But I worry our country is becoming poorer, less safe, and less free, and people who’ve been given much by this country need to stand up for it. That’s why I’m running.

In a nutshell, I think the problems of this country are simple: a global elite in our government and major corporations has gotten rich by sending American jobs to China and undercutting the power of the American worker. And when we dare to complain about the conditions of our own country, we’re told by those same people that we’re racist or stupid. Ohioans need someone to stand up for them.

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Q: What do you think are some of the biggest challenges Ohioans face today?

V: So many of our Ohio towns have been overrun by poverty and job loss as a result of the destruction of our manufacturing base. At the same time, an immigration crisis has exploded at our southern border, bringing in a ton of crime and drugs. Unless we fix those problems, our people are going to find it harder and harder to live a decent life in their own communities.

At the same time, many of the people who benefit most from the destruction of the middle class use the culture war to divide our country and shut up normal Americans. Let me just give one example: right now, Apple relies on actual slave labor in Communist China, even as it lectures America about slavery and other historical problems. Why is Apple focused on lecturing America about what happened 150 years ago instead of fixing its own business practices? Because if they didn’t, Americans might wake up to the fact that Apple is undercutting the wages and power of American workers. It’s all a sick game, and someone needs to call it out.

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Q: What do you hope to accomplish if you are voted in as senator?

V: Besides adding more border patrol agents and building the wall, which will solve our southern border crisis, I think we need to break the stranglehold that big technology companies have on our country. It’s crazy that an American citizen or the sitting U.S. president can be silenced by our social media companies, and their control over our political process makes it hard for normal Americans to have a voice. Even during the 2020 election, the Big Technology companies were censoring negative information about candidate Joe Biden, making it harder for people to cast their ballots against him. We need to break these companies up and return to a country where the people have the power.

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Q: When Ohioans go to the ballots, why should they cast their vote for you?

V: Politicians always make big promises, and in my experience, the best way to judge a politician is by their enemies. If they’re making friends with all the wrong people, you know they’ll never serve their constituents the right way. But if the media, the big corporations, and the bureaucrats are all attacking a person, you know they represent a threat to our system. I’m proud that some of the most powerful actors in our society spend all their time attacking me. I think it means I’m onto something, and I won’t cozy up to them when I get into office. I’ll represent the people.

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Q: If you are voted in, what are some immediate changes that need to happen?

V: When the house is on fire, you need to put the fire out before dealing with anything else. And right now, the fire in America is the crisis at the southern border. There are hundreds of thousands of illegal aliens and untold amounts of fentanyl coming across every month. Real peace and security are impossible when that’s the case, and we can’t let it continue. Importantly, this is a problem of political will. Border security isn’t rocket science. Put more people on the southern border, finish the wall, and let our law enforcement do their jobs. That alone will solve most of the crisis.

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Q: How will your military service help you serve Ohio’s veterans?

V: First and foremost, I think we need to stop sending our young people to die for ridiculous nation building projects cooked up in some think tank in D.C. Our country needs to accept that middle class Ohioans (and Americans) cannot and should not be asked to turn violent backwaters like Afghanistan into free, prosperous nations. Our military should do one thing: fight and win America’s wars, for American interests. I will oppose any military conflict that serves a progressive social cause more than the interests of our own people.

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Q: You’re an author and an investor. How will these skills translate to a position as U.S. Senator?

V: It’s useful to be able to communicate, especially when politics is so driven by the media. And it’s important to know a little about the business world, in order to bring good jobs and fight against the Chinese who poach so many of our good jobs away from us.

But at the end of the day, you don’t need to be a successful author or investor or businessperson to do a good job as senator. You need to have a good heart for the people of Ohio, courage, and a willingness to focus on our long-term problems. I’ve got all of those, and I hope people will trust me with their support.

[Lowell1775]

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Interview with JD Vance (U.S. Senate candidate, Ohio)
Marietta Times ^ | Sep 4 | MICHELE NEWBANKS

Posted on 9/4/2021, 7:56:11 PM by RandFan

[NeoCaveman]

I think there’s a chance Rand might endorse him

Rand has already endorsed Mike Gibbons in this race.