Vance shared stories about his high school math teacher and his “Mamaw” while his family was in the audience.
“I love every one of you and I love this town,” Vance said. “I’m grateful to be formed by it.”
Vance talked about his support of former President Donald Trump, saying he fights for American citizens and knows how to lead this country.
Trump cares about other people’s families and wants to believe his generation leaves this country better off, he added.
“The next four years we’re going to do a lot of good for this country,” he said. “To get there, the next four months we’ve got to do everything we can.”
Vance encouraged everyone to get involved, whether it’s knocking on doors for the campaign or encouraging friends and family to go to the polls. He also asked people to share their support on social media.
He discussed some of his goals if elected and said he and Trump will focus on American workers and local manufacturing.
“We’re going to fight for every single worker in this country,” he said. “If you work hard and play by the rules you ought to be able to put a good dinner on the table and send your kids to whatever vacation and whatever school you want to. Work hard and play by the rules; you get a good life. It’s that simple.”
Vance said he is proud of his public school education at Middletown High School.
“There are great school teachers in public and private schools all across our country, but for some reason, the Federal Department of Education is trying to lean into indoctrination in our schools, instead of teaching, reading, writing and arithmetic in our schools,” he said. “Let’s get back to common sense for our teachers and the students.”
He also expressed support for local energy, claiming President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris won’t “buy energy from our own citizens and from our own hands and from our own land.”
Vance said Americans deserve to be led by someone who is grateful for this country.
“If you’re going to lead this country you should be grateful for it,” he said. “And I never hear that gratitude come through when I listen to Kamala Harris.”
Vance touched on previous comments criticizing Trump, saying it helped him realize two things: The media lies about Trump and that Trump cares about people.
“He’s not the caricature or the lie the media has told you he is,” Vance said.
Springboro resident Patsy Atkins said Monday’s event was her first time at a political rally.
“I thought it was great and it was worth the wait,” Atkins said of the rally, which had an hours long queue.
Atkins said she’s excited to vote for Vance as Trump’s vice president.
“I love that he’s local and he’s got common sense, which is what America needs right now,” she said.
Following the speech, Atkins said she’s feeling hopeful for the future of America.
“I’m excited and I want Trump and Vance to win so badly because we need to get America back in shape,” she said.
Luther Stanton, of Middletown, said he appreciates Vance’s relatability and was happy Trump chose him as his VP candidate.
Though Stanton voted for Trump in previous elections, he said he was on the fence this time around but was sold when he heard Vance would be on the ticket.
“We need someone who’s more like we are, like common people as opposed to some other rich guy,” Stanton said.