Support truly
independent journalism
Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance was booed by a firefighters union in Boston one day after the group praised his Democratic counterpart, Tim Walz.
As soon as the Ohio freshman Senator walked onto the stage Thursday at a convention for the International Association of Firefighters, representing firefighters and emergency medical services personnel, he was met with jeers.
“Semper fi, guys,” said Vance, a Marine veteran, as the crowd erupted with boos. “Sounds like we got some fans and some haters. That’s okay. Listen to what I have to say here. I’ll make my pitch.”
Vance received a smattering of cheers after promising that the Trump-Vance administration would protect free speech, including criticism of Covid-19 vaccine mandates, as well as protecting pensions.
The mostly negative reaction comes one day after the Minnesota governor was greeted with a warm round of applause when he walked into the same convention before giving remarks.
After Vance was booed on Thursday, a spokesperson for the Harris-Walz said in a statement: “JD tried selling firefighters on the Trump-Vance Project 2025 agenda to undermine workers, gut labor protections, and cut overtime pay – and got hosed. This election, workers are fired up to elect Vice President Harris and Governor Walz. They won’t be fooled by Donald Trump or JD Vance’s lies about their plan to undermine unions and America’s middle class.”
Vance appears to have more “haters” than fans these days. Not only is he considered the least popular vice presidential candidate in modern history, but he has been on the receiving end of many negative reactions since joining the GOP ticket.
Past comments of Vance calling Vice President Kamala Harris a “childless cat lady” have come back to haunt him. The childless community, Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff’s e- wife and Jennifer Aniston have condemned the remark.
Resurfaced texts also emphasize his ideological pivot from once calling Trump “America’s Hitler” to becoming his running mate, which has angered former classmates and friends.
Since becoming Trump’s veep pick, Democrats have labeled him as “weird” — a descriptor he has tried to ditch, but a number of strained social exchanges have made that effort more difficult.
One of his recent jokes at a Wisconsin rally fell flat and backfired. “Well, I found a good friend from back home who embellishes and lies a lot, I’m having him stand in for Tim Walz,” Vance said earlier this month. The internet was quick to speculate that his “friend” was Republican presidental nominee Donald Trump, who, according to the Washington Post, made more than 30,000 false or misleading statements during his presidency.
In another painful exchange, Vance visited a cheesesteak joint in Philadelphia and wound up being accused of committing a “crime against humanity.”
The Ohio Republican walked into Pat’s King of Steaks, which famously serves its cheesesteaks with only American cheese, provolone or cheez whiz. However, Vance dared to ask why they “hate Swiss cheese so much?”
While Vance was seemingly referencing John Kerry’s 2004 presidential campaign, when he asked for a sandwich with Swiss cheese at Pat’s, the internet thought the exchange hurt his campaign chances.
Similarly, last week, Vance tried to have conversations with employees in a donut shop in Georgia before his remarks. But the exchange devolved into incredible depths of awkwardness, involving minimal responses, one employee asking to remain off camera, and Vance using the term “sprinkle stuff.”
This article has been amended to include a statement from the Harris-Walz campaign and that Vance had received cheers at some points during his speech.
