Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) just lately slammed Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio), Donald Trump’s vice presidential decide, over his views on rural America.
Throughout an look on a Tuesday phase of MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” the governor criticized Vance for the way in which he characterised “small-town America” in his 2016 bestselling memoir, “Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis.”
“People like JD Vance know nothing about small-town America,” mentioned Walz, who was raised in rural Nebraska. “My town had 400 people in it, 24 kids in my graduating class — 12 were cousins.”
“And he gets it all wrong,” he continued. “It’s not about hate, it’s not about collapsing in. The golden rule there is mind your own damn business.”
Walz then mentioned that the Republican Get together has “destroyed rural America” via their insurance policies.
“They’ve divided us. They’re in our exam rooms, they’re telling us what books to read,” he mentioned. “And I think what Kamala Harris knows is, bringing people together around the shared values — strong public schools, strong labor unions that create the middle class, health care that’s affordable and accessible — those are the things.”
The Minnesota governor later emphasised his level that Republicans have created division, saying, “We can’t even go to Thanksgiving dinner with our uncle, because you end up in some weird fight that is unnecessary.”
He added that right-wing politicians are operating for the “he-man, women-haters club or something.”
“That angst that JD Vance talks about in ‘Hillbilly Elegy’ — none of my hillbilly cousins went to Yale, and none of them went on to be venture capitalists or whatever,” he later continued. “It’s not who people really are.”
Alex Wong by way of Getty Photographs
Vance, a Marine Corps veteran, attended Yale Legislation College and labored as a enterprise capitalist. His hit memoir elevated him to nationwide fame, however he has additionally garnered criticism for among the methods wherein he portrayed the struggles of working-class individuals in rural America within the e-book.
Silas Home, an writer and chair of Appalachian Research at Berea School in Kentucky, informed Folks in an article revealed Wednesday that he believes the memoir “traffics in ugly stereotypes and tropes.”
Vance was raised by his grandparents in Middletown, Ohio, whereas his mom battled an dependancy. His father left his household when he was a younger youngster.
Critics have challenged Vance’s depiction of Appalachia, whereas others have questioned the extent of his Appalachian ties since he was raised in Ohio.
Vance’s grandparents are from Appalachia, and he hung out throughout his upbringing touring to the area in Kentucky to go to household.
Neema Avashia, writer of “Another Appalachia,” known as out the e-book’s lack of illustration of Appalachia’s residents of colour in an interview with The Related Press final week, including that she thought the memoir made “sweeping generalizations” about working-class white individuals.
The e-book’s recognition is “rooted in a desire to have your biases confirmed,” she mentioned.
