Trump running mate J.D. Vance vows to fight for ‘forgotten’ workers
Donald Trump’s vice-presidential running mate, U.S. Senator J.D. Vance, presented himself to the nation on Wednesday night as the son of a forgotten industrial Ohio town who will fight for the working class if elected in November.
In chronicling his hardscrabble journey from a difficult childhood to the U.S. Marines, Yale Law School, venture capitalism and finally the U.S. Senate, Vance, 39, introduced himself to Americans while using his story to argue that he understands their everyday struggles.
“I grew up in Middletown, Ohio, a small town where people spoke their minds, built with their hands and loved their God, their family, their community and their country with their whole hearts,” Vance said, formally accepting the party’s nomination at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee.
“But it was also a place that had been cast aside and forgotten by America’s ruling class in Washington.”
Donald Trump has named J.D. Vance as his vice-presidential running mate. The junior senator from Ohio is a staunch supporter, but it hasn’t always been that way. The National breaks down how he went from ‘never Trump’ to the former U.S. president’s top pick for the job.
He accused “career politicians” like U.S. President Joe Biden — who Vance noted has been in politics longer that he has been alive — of destroying communities like his with ill-fated trade policies and foreign wars.
“President Trump’s vision is so simple and yet so powerful,” he said. “We’re done, ladies and gentlemen, catering to Wall Street. We’ll commit to the working man.”
In a sign of his potential value to the ticket, he also repeatedly appealed to the working and middle classes in Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin specifically — three Rust Belt swing states likely to decide the Nov. 5 election.
Vance described his grandmother, “Mamaw,” who raised him as his mother struggled with addiction — and acknowledged his mother, Beverly, who was on hand to watch him speak.
“I am proud to say that tonight my mom is here, 10 years clean and sober,” Vance said. “I love you, Mom.”
A visibly moved Beverly Vance mouthed, “I love you, J.D.,” while delegates gave her a standing ovation.
Vance described his grandmother as someone who both “loved the Lord,” but also “loved the F-word.”
“She was an old woman who could barely walk, but she was tough as nails,” Vance said.
Fast rise to VP nomination
Vance’s prime-time debut, less than two years after he first assumed public office, capped a rise that coincided with his transformation from a fierce Trump detractor to one of his most devoted defenders.
He is one of several high-profile Republicans, such as U.S. senators Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio, whose reversal from critic to loyalist has underscored Trump’s takeover of the party.
Vice-Presidential candidate J.D. Vance drew applause from the crowd at the Republican National Convention when he promised that a second Trump administration would focus on American manufacturing, and in doing so, fend off foreign companies from dominating American marketplaces.
Author of the bestselling memoir Hillbilly Elegy, Vance has helped to shape Trump’s populist instincts into a policy agenda that would pull the U.S. back from its dominant role in global affairs.
As the first millennial on a major party’s ticket, he is well positioned to carry Trump’s Make America Great Again movement beyond a potential second Trump term.
His speech embraced many of the core tenets of Trumpism, promising to prioritize domestic manufacturing over Chinese imports and warning allies they would no longer get “free rides” in securing world peace.
Vance has opposed military aid for Ukraine and defended the 78-year-old Trump’s attempts to overturn his 2020 election loss to Biden.
He has argued the government must do more to assist the working class by restricting imports, raising the minimum wage and cracking down on corporate largesse. Those positions, at odds with the Republican Party’s traditional pro-business stance, nonetheless track Trump’s program closely.
Democrats have already gone on offence against Vance, highlighting his strict anti-abortion views and arguing that he will advance an extreme, far-right agenda in office.
When winding down his speech, Vance thanked Trump for “the trust you have put in me,” and pledged to give his best to Americans no matter what party they support.
Biden, meanwhile, was forced off the campaign trail on Wednesday after testing positive for COVID-19.
The illness added to the 81-year-old president’s woes, after three tumultuous weeks in which he has struggled to reassure panicked Democrats that he can still defeat Trump following an anemic debate performance late last month.
Published at Sun, 14 Jul 2024 01:06:12 +0000
The Seine is typically filthy. What to know before Olympic swimmers dive in
Over eight days in August 1900, dozens of swimmers dove into the muddy waters of the Seine River in Paris to compete in the second Olympic Games. Cheering crowds packed the riverbank, as the strong downstream current carried athletes to impossibly fast finish times.
In a newspaper review, editor W. T. Stead described the Seine as “the main street” of what was then “the greatest show on earth” — even if it did have a bit of a smell.
“It is extraordinary, the extent to which the French have utilized their river,” wrote Stead, then 51.
“In hot weather the fragrance reminds one of Venice, but, odourous or otherwise, the bright, rushing current … adds immensely to the general effect.”
Dan Angelescu, founder and CEO of Fluidion, a Paris- and Los Angeles-based water-monitoring tech company, says he wouldn’t swim in the Seine based on water quality in June 2024.
This summer, Olympic athletes could find themselves back in the Seine as the Olympics return to Paris. Triathlon and marathon swimming are scheduled to take place in the river, where it has been illegal to swim for a century.
Politicians insist the water will be clean enough for athletes by then, but experts aren’t so sure.
Is the Seine safe to swim in?
Like many old cities around the world, Paris has a combined sewer system, which means wastewater and storm water flow through the same pipes. Those pipes can reach capacity when it rains long and hard, meaning raw wastewater — like sewage — flows into the Seine instead of a treatment plant.
Swimming there has been banned since 1923, with a few exceptions for the odd competition.
The city has tried to clean up the river, but the water has tested unsafe for humans in recent weeks, though cleaner on other days. Data provided by the Fluidion Open Data Initiative on E. coli bacteria levels in the Seine showed 852 colony-forming units per 100 millilitres as of Tuesday, down from 1,459 on Monday.
The World Triathlon Federation has determined 900 colony-forming units per 100 millilitres as safe for competitions.
Dan Angelescu, CEO of Fluidion, has been testing the river water for years. He spoke to CBC News in June and said, based on data available at the time, he personally wouldn’t have swum in the Seine.
“When our data says the water quality is good, I’ll be the first to jump in,” Angelescu said.
“Over the past two months, we haven’t seen a single day where water quality was acceptable. So we’re starting to be a little bit worried.”
Data posted online by the City of Paris showed the water was suitable for swimming six out of seven days between July 8 and 14, based on European water quality regulations. The city tests four sites in the Seine for E. coli and Escherichia coli and intestinal enterococci (IE), both typically used as primary indicators of fecal contamination.
“Despite a [river] flow rate that remains more than three times higher than the usual flow rate in summer, the water quality of the Seine is relatively good over the observed period,” the site read on Wednesday.
How is Paris planning to clean the river?
Paris invested €1.4 billion ($2 billion Cdn) in building infrastructure to catch more storm water when it rains — the same dirty wastewater that flows into the Seine during heavy rainfall.
Officials opened a massive underground water storage basin next to the Austerlitz train station in May, hoping the facility can collect excess rainwater and stop waste water from getting into the Seine. The basin can hold the equivalent of 20 Olympic swimming pools of dirty water that will now be treated.
It’s the main piece of major infrastructure improvements the city has rushed to finish in time for the Olympics, but also to ensure the Seine stays clean long after the closing ceremonies.
French Sports Minister Amelie Oudea-Castera took a dip in the Seine River to prove it’s safe for swimming, in light of the upcoming Olympics and questions regarding the Seine’s water quality. However, while Parisians say they trust the scientific testing being done, they themselves would not dare hop into the water.
The problem is that a few spells of heavy rain could push E. coli levels up.
“The Seine is not a special case,” Metin Duran, a professor of civil and environmental engineering at Villanova University who has researched storm-water management, told The Associated Press. “It really is a complicated and very costly problem.”
So will the river be swim-ready in time?
Politicians and organizers have insisted it will be. French President Emmanuel Macron said the cleansing of the Seine “will be a tremendous moment of French pride and celebration,” while Paris Deputy Mayor Pierre Rabadan said “there was no Plan B.”
The cleaning plan took longer than expected due to unusually heavy spring rainfall, but organizers hope the combination of dry, sunny summer weather and new infrastructure will make enough of a difference.
“It’s still a challenge because we know that, with big rain, we are exposed to risk. But … because we started the program four years ago, the water quality now is much better,” Tony Estanguet, president of the Paris 2024 organizing committee and three-time Olympic canoeing champion, said in an interview with CBC News.
“So whatever will be the situation for the games, it will be a very positive legacy for the Seine.”
Estanguet and the top government official for the Paris region, Marc Guillaume, joined Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo for a dip in the river on Wednesday to prove the river is clean enough to host outdoor swimming events. French Sports Minister Amélie Oudéa-Castéra already took the plunge on Saturday.
The four officials all wore suits that covered most of their skin.
“The Seine is exquisite,” said Hidalgo from the water. After emerging, she continued to rave, “The water is very, very good. A little cool, but not so bad.”
What’s this about a ‘shit in the Seine’ protest?
Hidalgo was originally expected to swim in the river with Macron on June 23. Parisians who were fed up with the amount of money being spent on the Olympics encouraged people to poop in the river before the politicians took the plunge. Some declared their allegiance to the cause under the hashtag #JeChieDansLaSeineLe23Juin, which translates to “I shit in the Seine on June 23.”
Angelescu said it would have to be an immense amount of human waste to bring down the water quality.
“It would have to be thousands and thousands of people that do this,” said Angelescu. “I really hope it’s not going to be the case, but it certainly makes headlines in the newspapers when people say that.”
What happens to the outdoor swimming events if they can’t use the Seine?
If the Seine isn’t clean enough for the athletes, the triathlon will drop the swimming portion and run as a duathlon. The marathon swimming competition would be moved to the Vaires-sur-Marne Nautical Stadium, which is just outside Paris and is already going to be hosting the rowing and canoe-kayaking events.
“It’s not very common, but it has happened a few times,” Olalla Cernuda, head of communications at World Triathlon, told AP the possibility of the swim portion being cancelled.
“And it’s always linked with water quality issues.”
Published at Wed, 17 Jul 2024 08:00:00 +0000
