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The Guardian - US
The Guardian - US
World
Stephen Starr in Middletown, Ohio

Midwestern guys: Vance and Walz’s opposing views of being from the US heartland

side-by-side close-ups of two men speaking, one with a beard and mustache and one with white hair
JD Vance speaks in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on 6 August 2024 and Tim Walz speaks in Las Vegas, Nevada, on 10 August 2024. Photograph: Ryan Collerdronda Churchill/AFP/Getty Images

For 30 years, Michael Bailey worked at the former Armco steel plant in Middletown, Ohio, eventually becoming president of a union that represented thousands of workers. Among them was James Vance, grandfather and sometimes stand-in father of the Republican party’s current vice-presidential candidate, JD, who worked as a skilled tradesperson at the plant.

So Bailey, today a 71-year-old pastor at the Faith United church in downtown Middletown, says he’s confused by claims from Donald Trump’s running mate that he “grew up as a poor kid” in Middletown.

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