Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance was booed Thursday by some members of a firefighters union in Boston while delivering a speech in which he asked members “after supporting Democrats for so long in this union, what has it gotten you?”
The boos were heard immediately after Vance took the stage at the International Association of Fire Fighters Convention, leading him to say “sounds like we got some fans and some haters.”
“That’s okay. Listen to what I have to say here, and I’ll make my pitch,” Vance continued – but he was met with jeering again later in the speech when he declared former President Trump and himself the “most pro-worker Republican ticket in history.”
Vance, who spoke a day after Democratic vice presidential candidate Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz addressed the same convention, asked the union to question their past support of Democrats.
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JD Vance reacts to being booed by some in the crowd at the International Association of Fire Fighters Convention. (Pool)
“In 2019, this union endorsed a Democrat for president with high hopes,” the Ohio Republican said. “But sadly, I believe you’ve been let down.”
“And we have to be honest, my friends, the hard truth is that Kamala Harris is the latest in a long line of Democrats who come by every few years asking unions for money and promising you the moon, but often failing to deliver. After supporting Democrats for so long in this union, what has it gotten you?” Vance continued. “Over the past 70 years, union membership in this country — and this is not a good thing — has declined.
“The influence of unions has declined, and the wages of working people, union and non-union alike have not kept up with the pace of inflation over the last three and a half years,” Vance added. “So I want to ask you a question that Donald Trump asked America in 2016. What the hell do you have to lose?”
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Democratic vice presidential nominee Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz speaks on stage during the International Association of Fire Fighters Convention on Aug. 28, in Boston, Massachusetts. (Scott Eisen/Getty Images)
Vance also asked firefighters to remember the wave of anti-police protests that swept through America in the summer of 2020, saying that “we sure as hell will not bail out the criminals like Kamala Harris did.”
“The criminals, many of whom were going after our firefighters as they tried to keep our cities safe and put out the fires. We’re going to put criminals behind bars where they belong, and we will always stand with the courageous firefighters and the first responders who keep this country safe every single day,” Vance said.
Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris and her running mate, Tim Walz, disembark from their campaign bus in Savannah, Georgia, on Wednesday. Vance told the firefighters union Thursday that “After supporting Democrats for so long in this union, what has it gotten you?” (SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images)
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“We’re going to defend your right to free speech, including your right to speak out about unconstitutional COVID vaccine mandates imposed by the current administration,” he also said. “We’re going to abolish every single mandate, and we’re going to fight to rehire every firefighter who was wrongly terminated with all the back pay that they deserve.”