MIDDLETOWN, Ohio — On Monday, Sen. JD Vance expressed his frustration and disappointment following President Joe Biden's sudden exit from the 2024 presidential race. This unexpected turn of events not only disrupted the Democratic Party’s campaign but also thwarted Vance’s anticipation of a high-profile debate with Vice President Kamala Harris. At his first solo campaign event since being selected as former President Donald Trump’s running mate, Vance openly conveyed his dissatisfaction. “I was told I was going to debate Kamala Harris,” Vance remarked during the event, held at his alma mater, Middletown High School, where he graduated in 2003. “And now President Trump is going to get to debate her? I’m kind of pissed off about that, if I’m being honest with you.”

The event took place just a day after Biden announced his withdrawal from the presidential race. Facing mounting scrutiny over his fitness for office and questions about his campaign's viability, Biden endorsed Harris as his successor for the Democratic nomination. This endorsement was quickly embraced by the Democratic establishment, a move that Vance criticized sharply, framing it as a threat to democratic norms. “Elite Democrats,” Vance asserted, “got in a smoke-filled room and decided to throw Joe Biden overboard. That is not how it works. That is the threat to democracy, not the Republican Party.”

In a bid to attract disaffected Democrats, Vance extended an invitation to those dissatisfied with their current choices. “You are welcome in the Republican Party, where we think we should persuade voters and not lie to voters,” he said, encouraging disenchanted Democrats to consider joining the GOP. “Come on in, the water’s warm.”

Vance’s remarks also included pointed criticism of Harris’s perceived lack of gratitude towards the country. Drawing from his 2016 memoir, “Hillbilly Elegy,” which details his family's struggles and his own experiences, Vance expressed that a sense of national gratitude should be evident in a leader. “Every country — just like every family, certainly mine — has its pockmarks, right? Not everything’s perfect,” Vance said. “But if you want to lead this country, you should feel grateful for it. You should feel a sense of gratitude, and I never hear that gratitude come through when I listen to Kamala Harris.”

At his subsequent campaign event in Radford, Virginia, Vance intensified his critique of Harris, describing her as “a million times worse” than Biden. He asserted that “The Biden record is the Kamala Harris record. And given what we know about Joe Biden, Kamala Harris probably did a lot more than Joe Biden does.”

Trump’s campaign strategy is to leverage Vance’s working-class background from the industrial Midwest to appeal to voters in pivotal states that Biden won in 2020, including Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin. In his Ohio speech, Vance, mirroring themes from his vice presidential nomination acceptance at the Republican National Convention, focused on the concerns of working-class voters in Middletown. He criticized trade agreements that he argues have facilitated job outsourcing and underscored Trump’s consistent opposition to such deals. Vance also tackled cultural issues, accusing Democrats of promoting what he described as “indoctrination” in public education and labeling various beliefs as racist. “I had a Diet Mountain Dew yesterday and one today — I’m sure they’re gonna call that racist, too,” Vance quipped in Ohio, drawing laughter from the audience. “I love you guys.”

The event featured some of the most intense rhetoric from local lawmaker State Senator George Lang, who issued a dire warning about the potential consequences of a Trump and Vance defeat in the upcoming election. “I believe wholeheartedly: Donald Trump and Butler County’s JD Vance are the last chance to save our country politically,” Lang declared during the event’s opening remarks. “I’m afraid if we lose this one, it’s going to take a civil war to save the country, and it will be saved. It’s the greatest experiment in the history of mankind.” Lang later expressed regret for his incendiary comments, acknowledging they were out of step with calls for more measured political rhetoric following an assassination attempt on Trump. “Remarks I made earlier today at a rally in Middletown do not accurately reflect my views,” Lang posted on X. “I regret the divisive remarks I made in the excitement of the moment on stage.” He recognized that, in light of recent events, he should have exercised greater caution with his language.

According to a campaign official, the Middletown High School auditorium was filled to capacity, with over 1,000 attendees, prompting the fire marshal to close the entrance. An additional 1,000 individuals were left outside, where Vance took time to greet them before delivering his speech.

Vance’s memoir provides a detailed account of his upbringing, including his family's migration from the Appalachian region of eastern Kentucky to the industrial towns of southwestern Ohio, as well as his mother’s struggles with drug addiction. The memoir depicts Middletown as emblematic of the Rust Belt’s economic decline and working-class struggles. “As kids, we joked that our hometown was so generic that they didn’t even bother to give it a real name: It’s in the middle of Cincinnati and Dayton, and it’s a town, so here we are,” Vance wrote. “Middletown is generic in other ways. It exemplified the economic expansion of the manufacturing-based Rust Belt town. Socioeconomically, it is largely working-class.”

During his speech, Vance displayed a nostalgic fondness for his hometown. “I might make the Secret Service take me to Central Pastry afterwards,” he mused, only to be corrected by an audience member who suggested “Milton’s” bakery instead. “I skipped lunch, so my mind’s on donuts here,” Vance acknowledged, adding his appreciation for Milton’s.

The crowd, consisting of Trump supporters and local residents either loyal to or curious about Vance, had formed a long queue that extended beyond the high school and neighboring middle school, nearly reaching a nearby college campus. Jenny King, a teacher at the middle school, expressed pride in Vance’s accomplishments. “I know what the kids here deal with,” she said while waiting to enter. “And I think it’s fantastic to be able to say that, you know, he went through here and, you know, we’re here to support.”

“I can look back at yearbooks and say I knew him when, which is kind of cool,” King, 53, added. “I never had him in class. But, you know, it is really neat to be able to say that … Middletown City Schools, you know, he’s a product of it.”

Mike Smith, a lifelong Middletown resident, spoke of his admiration for Vance’s memoir and its Netflix adaptation. “Never been to one of these things before,” Smith, 68, said as he waited in line. “Just kind of curious. … It’s kind of a rags-to-riches kind of thing and everything.”

Conversely, not all attendees were enthusiastic about Vance. Steve Albert, a retiree from nearby Cincinnati who plans to vote for the Democratic ticket, attended the event out of curiosity. “I think I’d be concerned about how he’s flip-flopped about his positions and how he’s flip-flopped about his support for Trump,” Albert, 67, remarked. “But someone might label him [an] opportunist.”