Trump's VP Pick J.D. Vance Espouses Economic Populism But Will He Actually Be a Working-Class Ally?

After Ohio Senator J.D. Vance makes his nomination official as the Republican vice-presidential candidate in 2024, we spend the show looking at his record. We begin with a discussion on Vance’s professed economic populism with independent journalist Zaid Jilani and The Nation's Chris Lehmann. Jilani argues Vance's pro-working class image is not only genuine, but that he may also hold enough sway to bring the Republican Party closer to the labor movement. “Big business does fear Vance to some extent,” he says. Lehmann counters, “I don’t see the Republican Party, at the end of the day, moving toward these … redistributive policies,” citing its hostility toward immigrants, who are a major driver of economic growth. “The forgotten working class is going to stay forgotten,” he concludes.