After speaking, Vance pulled his family onto the stage.
“It feels like we’re literally in a dream,” Meibers told this newspaper Thursday afternoon during a phone interview. “This is actually happening. We always knew he was smart and destined for greatness.”
Meibers said since she was backstage, she only heard parts of Vance’s speech that touched on being raised in a broken Middletown home.
“To be honest, that was pure JD,” Meibers said when asked for her reaction to his speech. “He speaks from the heart. He’s a normal, everyday guy. He’s very relatable.”
Vance, 39, a 2003 Middletown High School graduate, has talked about his mother’s drug addictions, numerous failed marriages and how his grandmother, whom he calls “mamaw,” was his guiding force.
“His whole life prepared him for this role,” his aunt said. “JD is a survivor.”
Vance rose to prominence on the wings of “Hillbilly Elegy,” a bestselling memoir that many thought captured the essence of Trump’s political resonance in a rural white America ravaged by joblessness, opioid addiction and poverty.
The 2016 book set off a fierce debate in Middletown and cities across Kentucky. Many Appalachian scholars thought it trafficked in stereotypes and blamed working-class people for their own struggles, without giving enough weight to the decades of exploitation by coal and pharmaceutical companies that figure prominently in Appalachia’s story.
Some of the resentment sparked by the book crossed party lines.
“A lot of us born and raised natives of Appalachia are just highly sensitive to the fact that knocking hillbillies is the final frontier of accepted prejudice in America,” said TJ Litafik, an eastern Kentucky Republican political consultant and Trump supporter.
Vance recognized his mother, Beverly Aikins, who was sitting near former President Trump, during his speech and said she’s nearly 10 years sober. He told her in January, on the anniversary of her sobriety, he’s throwing her a party in the White House if he’s elected.
Meibers called her sister’s battle with drug addiction “the hardest years” of her life.
“Addiction robs the whole family of something they can never replace,” she said. “I was so proud of my sister.”
Aikins has regained her nursing license and works at an addiction center, her sister said.
Middletown teacher proud of Vance
Vance’s first-grade teacher remembers him as a “good student” with pleasant eyes and a smile.
“He was very quiet,” said Carolyn Dishun, who taught Vance at Roosevelt Elementary School.
Then she added with a laugh: “At least he was then.”
Dishun said Vance “rose above” his home life.
“He’s very determined,” said Dishun, 85, who taught for 30 years. “When he puts his mind to it, he goes after it.”
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
Credit: NYT
Credit: NYT
Vance to make campaign stop in Middletown
Republican vice presidential candidate and U.S. Sen. JD Vance, R-Cincinnati will speak at a rally Monday at Middletown High School.
It will be the first time he has returned to Middletown since being named former President Donald Trump’s vice president running mate.
Vance will speak at 1:30 p.m. at Middletown High School. Tickets are open to the public on the Trump campaign website.
Doors open for the event at 10:30 a.m., according to the Trump campaign.
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