JD Vance boo’ed: His Firefighter’s Union speech, explained

When he appeared at the International Association of Firefighters (IAFF) conference in late August, Republican Vice Presidential nominee J.D. Vance was greeted differently than Tim Walz, Vance’s Democratic counterpart, who spoke to the union one day earlier.

At the time of Walz’s and Vance’s appearances, the union had yet to endorse either the Trump or Harris ticket, and the VP candidates hoped to win them over. But whereas Walz was roundly cheered by the crowd, Vance heard a mix of boos and cheers when he took the same stage the following day. “Semper fi, guys. Sounds like we’ve got some fans and some haters,” Vance said, somewhat inexplicably, when he heard the crowd’s reaction, adding “That’s OK, listen to what I have to say here and I’ll make my pitch.”

Vance was in the Marines, so one would think he’d understand Semper Fi is the Marine Corps motto, and not something firefighters say. Vance is the same guy who struggled to order doughnuts, however, so who knows what goes on in his mind when he tries to seem relatable?

The “most pro-worker Republican ticket in history”

In the end, Vance maintained a mixed reaction from the crowd. As he told stories about firefighters saving his mother, he was cheered. Vance was booed again, however, when he called the GOP ticket the most “pro-worker” in Republican history.

Even if that’s true, the Trump-Vance ticket has not yet convinced organized labor of it, with the United Auto Workers, United Steelworkers, the Service Employees International Union, and the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees, all endorsing Harris-Walz. The Milwaukee Police Association and the International Union of Police Associations picked the Trump-Vance ticket, but at this writing, the IAFF has not yet endorsed either candidate.

As Minnesota Governor, Walz has a strong record of labor support, banning noncompete provisions in employment contracts in the state, among other worker protections. The Minnesota AFL-CIO called legislation Walz passed, “the most pro-worker policy agenda Minnesotans have seen in more than a generation.”