J.D. Vance was greeted by loud boos during an address to the International Association of Fire Fighters in Boston on Thursday—and that was only the beginning of an incredibly rough speech for Donald Trump’s running mate.
“Thank you guys—” Vance said as he grabbed the mic to speak, only to be interrupted by loud booing from the audience.
“Semper Fi guys,” Vance said, seeming to signpost his background as a Marine to get the hecklers to stop. “Sounds like we’ve got some fans and some haters, that’s okay,” he joked.
“Listen to what I have to say here, and I’ll make my pitch,” he said.
Vance asked his audience, which had voted to endorse Joe Biden in 2019, to “ignore the campaign rhetoric and look at the record,” before predictably diving into campaign rhetoric blaming undocumented immigrants for unsupported claims about increased crime and drug use.
Vance touted projections of how much undocumented immigrants were costing different cities around the country, referring to New York, Chicago, Denver, and Washington, D.C., but didn’t conjure a single number about Boston, where the speech was actually taking place.
“We shouldn’t be forced to spend billions of dollars on people who aren’t even supposed to be here. We should be spending that money on schools, police and fire departments, and our citizens, and under President Donald J. Trump’s leadership, we will,” Vance said. The Ohio senator’s imagining of a world where by funding public institutions, you can somehow police the citizenship of those who receive their benefits, was met by a mix of claps and boos.
If Vance thought his earlier plea would be enough to settle down the disruptions, he had another thing coming.
“Now, President Trump and I are proud to be the most pro-worker Republican ticket in history, and I want to talk about why we’re fighting for working people,” Vance said, once again interrupted by loud booing from actual working people.
As Minnesota Governor Tim Walz pointed out to the IAFF the day before, during a much friendlier reception, Trump had blocked overtime benefits, opposed efforts to raise the minimum wage, and proposed slashing federal fire service budgets. Walz warned that under Project 2025, Trump would continue to weaken unions.
On stage, Vance’s declaration that he was a “populist, and proud of it,” was again met by some claps and boos. Vance’s cold reception didn’t prevent him from attempting jokes, although he brutally fumbled their delivery in the face of an indifferent crowd.
Vance explained that Donald Trump is a “different kind of Republican and under his leadership, the Republican Party is the party of the American worker,” and asked his audience to take the Republican National Convention as an example.
“It says a lot who each party chose to put up on that stage. At the Republican convention we were featuring everyday American workers—and of course, we had Hulk Hogan. And while it’s tempting, and I’m sure it would make some big headlines, don’t worry any-ev-everybody I’m not going to try to take off my shirt here—” he said, stumbling slightly, to zero crowd response.
His rough way into a complaint that the Democrats had only invited celebrities fell flat, highlighting his awkward public speaking style and inability to divert from a prepared speech.
As Vance departed the stage, he was met once again by deafening jeers mixed into some applause.
Vance’s team is already attempting to spin his dismal reception, lauding his bravery for stepping into hostile territory. Vance’s communications director William Martin posted his own video of the event, showing the “massive round of applause” for Vance as he walked on the stage, but stopped short of showing the booing that would begin once he opened his mouth.
