Donald Trump’s running mate didn’t receive the warmest of welcomes at a firefighters union conference in Boston on Thursday.
Ohio Sen. JD Vance could clearly hear the boos when he took the stage in front of the International Association of Fire Fighters, a union both Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris are courting for an endorsement.
Vance took the tepid reception in stride.
“Sounds like we got some fans and some haters,” he quipped. “That’s okay. … I’ll make my pitch.”
Vance has been described as a new breed of ostensibly pro-labor Republican, but it was clear many of the firefighters in attendance weren’t buying it.
Trump was vehemently anti-union throughout his first term, stacking agencies with appointees hostile to labor and trying to break federal employee unions. That record has left Vance with a difficult rebranding assignment.
On Thursday, Vance praised firefighters and emergency responders for their service, drawing applause at times. He shared a personal story of calling 911 as a 12-year-old, when his mother was in the middle of what he called a “terrible, terrible addiction crisis,” and credited the first responders for calming her and the children down. He said first responders saved his mother’s life years later.
“If you ever feel like you’re not making a difference, listen to this: From the sad and tearful 12-year-old, to a 40-year-old who’s now asking to be your vice president, you do make a difference,” Vance said.
ALEX WROBLEWSKI via Getty Images
He also tried to make the case for a “pro-worker” Trump presidency.
“President Trump and I are proud to be the most pro-worker Republican ticket in history,” Vance claimed. He insisted Trump “cares for working people.”
“He’s been fighting for them for his entire life in public service,” Vance said. “He loves our firefighters and our first responders, and he wants to make your lives better, and he wants to make your service easier.”
As HuffPost cataloged earlier this year, Trump pursued a slew of reforms while president that were meant to help employers at the expense of workers. He tried to put a fast-food CEO in charge of the Labor Department; made it easier for businesses to hide workplace injuries; tried to give restaurants more control over workers’ tips; and made it harder for workers to organize, among many rules and attempted reforms.
Harris-Walz campaign spokesperson Sarafina Chitika said in a statement that Vance “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,” Chitika said. “They won’t be fooled by Donald Trump or J.D. Vance’s lies about their plan to undermine unions and America’s middle class.”
Most major unions quickly came out in support of Harris after President Joe Biden announced he was withdrawing from the race. The IAFF, however, has not yet said which candidate it will back, if any.
Harris’ running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, addressed the firefighter crowd on Wednesday. He didn’t appear to be booed during his introduction.
This story was updated with comment from the Harris campaign.
