I did not read his book. However, I grew up a few blocks from him. My sister went to school with him. They were in the same class. When he released his book I asked my sister if she knew JD Vance. She insisted she didn’t know a JD Vance. I was skeptical of his sudden rise, especially since my sister didn’t know him and they supposedly graduated the same year. I thought he was a plant, especially when he was critical of Donald Trump.
When Ron Howard started making the movie I was talking to my family when they were in town, and by that time, my sister realized that JD Vance was the JD she grew up with. She was unaware that he took his grandparents last name after they graduated. Then, my other sister realized that she was friends with JD’s sister, Lindsay. They had different last names.
JD had a lot of media coverage around here throughout the years and I grew to appreciate his commentary. I wasn’t aware of the spiritual transformation he was going through, but I could tell there was something different about him.
I went to the rally he had here after the RNC. I will say that I saw a lot of my coworkers in MAGA hats. We didn’t have a chance of getting into the auditorium. However, it was very similar to tailgating so we stayed around. I noticed that the SS started gathering in the corner and began moving barricades. I could tell that something was going on. Then, JD’s motorcade pulled up. He got out to talk to us. Once he saw how many people were outside of the event he came over to thank us.
This is a big deal for us here in the rust belt.
