Live updates: Vance arrives at Middletown high to speak on VP race

Jul. 22—Middletown native Sen. JD Vance is scheduled to speak today in Middletown in his first rally since being named vice presidential running mate of former President Donald Trump. Here is the latest from the scene.

—PHOTOS: JD Vance to rally in Middletown for first solo appearance after VP pick

1:55 p.m.: Vance arrives for speech

Vance has arrived at the Middletown High School auditorium and briefly addressed the crowd outside, apologizing that the building is at capacity and they can't get in and thanking them for their support.

Vance is expected to address the crowd inside the auditorium shortly.

1:30 p.m.: Filled auditorium awaits Vance, listens to tunes

The 934 seats in the Middletown High School auditorium are filled by a crowd awaiting Vance's arrival, according to the Middletown Division of Fire. Hundreds of people outside are told they won't be able to get in.

Over 100 people remained outside to listen to the speech through and audio speaker.

Every few minutes, there's a bout of cheering and clapping as someone holds high a "Vance for vice president" or Trump/Vance sign.

Music playing overhead includes songs by Van Halen, the Beatles, Dolly Parton, Johnny Cash and the Backstreet Boys.

1 p.m.: Speakers take stage

State and local politicians warmed up the crowd in the Middletown High School ahead of Vance's speech.

State Sen. George Lang, R-West Chester, took the stage at 12:40 chanting loudly, "Fight, fight, fight!"

"We are in the fight for our life to save our country," Lang said. "How amazing it is that Donald Trump had the wisdom to pick JD Vance?"

U.S. Rep Warren Davidson, R-Troy, spoke about his connection to Vance.

"His story is something that resonates with millions of American families like mine ... (whether you're) Black, white, rich or poor," he said, noting his parents moved to Ohio from Tennessee and Kentucky seeking better opportunities.

Bernie Moreno, who is running for U.S. Senate against Democrat Sen. Sherrod Brown, urged attendees to leave Monday's rally energized.

"We're sitting here as a fully united Republican Party while the democrats are a total and complete (mess)," he said. "... the cavalry is on its way but you have a role to play. You've got to leave here ready to do something; that means vote early, vote absentee, get your friends to register to vote, knock on doors ... whatever it takes."

12:30 p.m.: Protesters, supporters tout Hillbilly Elegy

About a dozen protesters are lined up near Middletown High School ahead of Vance's arrival.

They include Connie Griffis, a Middletown Democrat who said she's there because "(Vance) is a liar, he's a hypocrite and he is not a good choice for a VP."

"I have read his book several times," Griffis said. "When I first read it all I thought was 'Why is he so bitter about Middletown, Ohio?'"

While walking to get in line for the rally, Paul Combs of Middletown was carrying his copy of "Hillbilly Elegy," Vance's 2016 memoir, which highlights the vice president hopeful's life growing up with family whose Appalachian Kentucky values shaped his upbringing.

Vance, 39, was raised in Middletown and his story also examines the socioeconomic and social problems of his hometown.

"I lived that story," Combs said, holding the book up.

Combs was born in Jackson, Kentucky, moving to the Middletown area when he was a toddler.

"It's very ravaged with poverty, so anyone who could pull themselves up by the bootstraps to get out of those hills and make something of themselves, like my father and mother did and like Vance's grandparents did, that really resonates with me," he said.

Combs describes his stance on the political spectrum as moderate. He voted for Joe Biden in 2020 but says Trump has his vote this year.

"I'm really disappointed in Biden and in the Democratic Party; they've continued to go wayward and I don't see anybody stepping in to save the party," Combs said.

While Combs said he's not a huge fan of Trump overall, his choice of Vance as his vice president swayed his opinion.

"When he picked Vance, I was all in," he said.

12:15 p.m.: Vance shows people from anywhere can 'acheive greatness'

Middletown City Manager Paul Lolli, sitting in third row, said Vance, a 2003 Middletown High School graduate, has shown that people can be " from anywhere and achieve greatness and great heights."

Nicki Linville said she thought President Joe Biden's decision to not run for re-election was a good choice.

"Physically and mentally he's not capable and he's lost the trust of the country," she said.

Linville does not think Vice President Kamala Harris is able to win the presidency and isn't capable of being president.

11:30 a.m.: Doors open, local officials arriving on scene

Seats inside the Middletown High School auditorium are filling up on the upper and lower levels and on risers behind the stage roughly two hours before Vance is scheduled to speak.

Outside, the line snakes from the high school, past the junior high, and down the road several blocks.

Notable local Republicans seen in the crowd include U.S. Rep. Warren Davidson, R-Troy; Bernie Moreno, who is challenging Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown this year; and state Reps. Rodney Creech, R-West Alexandria, and Thomas Hall, R-Madison Twp.

Davidson said when he pulled into Middletown High School parking lot and saw the crowd that illustrated "so much enthusiasm" for Vance.

He believes Vance will make " a case" for Trump to be elected president and believes Vance is "a great pick" to be on the ticket.

Hall said Vance and Trump's "vision" will lead America to be "stronger and safer."

U.S. Reps. Mike Turner, R-Dayton, and Jim Jordan, R-Urbana, will not be at the rally because they sit on the House Oversight Committee hearing testimony today from the director of the U.S. Secret Service about the agency's handling of an assassination attempt against Trump.

10:30 a.m.: 'He's from Butler County'

"I think he's going to be good for our country," said Diane Roark, of Middletown, who waited in line in front of the high school since before 7:30 a.m. "I think he's going to be good for Trump, also, in the election. He cares about the people."

She added, "He's a smart man. He's worked hard to get where he is."

Ronnie Shanklin, a Monroe resident who grew up in Fairfield, was happy to see Trump select Vance as his running mate. "Mostly because of his values, his family values. I mean, if you watch the movie (Hillbilly Elegy), he's from Butler County."

Zetta Davidson, of Fairborn, said her nephew, Charlie, attended high school with Vance.

"I think he's the best choice Trump could have made," Davidson said.

Middletown city school's superintendent Deborah Houser said she was "super proud" of Vance because "anytime a Middletown High School graduate makes it to pinnacle of their career it's a happy day."

Middletown High School is ready for JD Vance rally

Media crews from across the region and the nation were getting settled at Middletown High School early Monday to cover a rally for Middletown native and Republican vice presidential nominee Sen. JD Vance.

Shortly after 7 a.m. under rainy skies, only a few rally-goers were waiting outside the North Breiel Boulevard school. Security forces, including a Dayton police bomb squad van, were clearly in evidence across the school grounds.

—How to follow our coverage of the JD Vance rally

Vance knows Middletown and Southwest Ohio. He graduated from Middletown High School in 2003, joined the U.S. Marine Corps, served in Iraq, going on to study at the Ohio State University and Yale Law School, from which he graduated in 2013.

Vance's 2016 best-selling memoir recounting his childhood in Middletown and Eastern Kentucky, "Hillbilly Elegy," became a focus of attention in that year's presidential campaign and a Ron Howard-directed movie in 2020.

Vance entered politics in 2021, beating former U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan in the 2022 Ohio Senate race, and while still a 39-year-old junior senator, being introduced to the nation on July 15 as former President Donald Trump's running mate in the 2024 campaign.

Vance once was strongly critical of Trump, at one point calling him "cultural heroin" and a "fraud." But he changed his mind about Trump, telling Fox News in 2021: "I did say those critical things and I regret them, and I regret being wrong about the guy."

Since then, Vance has emerged as one of the strongest defenders of what might be seen as Trump's governing philosophy.

In an unsettled and chaotic presidential campaign, Vance's ability to communicate the Trump message will be put to the test repeatedly. Shortly after the Biden campaign announced that President Biden is withdrawing from the race Sunday afternoon, Vance took aim at Biden's vice president on X, the former Twitter social media platform: "Joe Biden has been the worst president of my lifetime, and Kamala Harris has been right there with him every step of the way."

When Vance formally accepted the vice presidential nomination in Milwaukee last week, he spotlighted members of his Middletown family.

He also promised to be a "vice president who never forgets where he came from."

Lori Meibers, whose sister is Vance's mother, was backstage Wednesday night when Vance was the keynote speaker at the GOP Convention last week.

"It feels like we're literally in a dream," Meibers told this newspaper Thursday afternoon in a phone interview. "This is actually happening. We always knew he was smart and destined for greatness."