“Let’s Go Blue” chant breaks out during JD Vance’s speech at RNC
JD Vance, the Republican vice presidential candidate and Ohio State University graduate, made fun of Michigan in his acceptance speech.
Can college football rivalries sway Michigan voters to oppose a Republican ticket that includes Ohio State fan JD Vance? Democrats are continuing to test that theory – this time with a plane flying a banner over the Big House on Saturday that emphasizes Vance’s loyalty to his alma mater.
The Democratic National Committee flew a plane to carry its anti-Vance message in the skies above Michigan Stadium for four hours during the fan party before the UM game against Texas kicks off at noon. The banner not only points to Vance’s support for Ohio State, but also, in a few words, attempts to link Vance to Project 2025, the conservative think tank Heritage Foundation’s playbook for the next Republican presidential administration.
“Just as the Wolverines ended Ohio State’s season three years in a row, Kamala Harris and Tim Walz will end Donald Trump and JD Vance’s election season if they beat them in November,” Democratic National Committee deputy communications director Abhi Rahman said in a statement. “The words ‘Go Blue’ have never meant more than they do now.”
Since Trump named the Republican U.S. senator from Ohio as his running mate, Democrats have seemingly taken every opportunity to remind voters in the swing state that Vance is representing Ohio State on game day.
It’s a political risk that Vance himself joked about during his speech accepting his party’s vice presidential nomination at the Republican National Convention. As the GOP delegation erupted in chants of “OHIO,” Vance joined in the chorus before attempting to calm Ohio fans. “Guys, we need to relax with the love of Ohio. We need to win Michigan here, too,” Vance said.
Democrats’ attacks on Republicans also focused on Project 2025 and its proposals to restructure the federal government — including a plan to abolish the U.S. Department of Education and weaken civil service job protections — as well as restrict access to abortion. The plan’s authors include some people who previously served in Trump’s administration, and Vance has previously championed the work of the Heritage Foundation.
“The only truth here is that Senator Vance is an Ohio State fan. Kamala would say ‘Go Green’ in East Lansing and ‘Go Blue’ in Ann Arbor because her pollsters told her to,” Victoria LaCivita, communications director for Team Trump Michigan, said in a statement Saturday. “Even though Michigan may not like OSU, they respect Vance and that’s why the Trump-Vance ticket will win the ultimate trophy on November 5.”
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The Trump campaign has repeatedly tried to distance itself from Project 2025’s proposals. At a rally in Grand Rapids in July, Trump told supporters he didn’t know what Project 2025 was, but criticized it anyway, calling some of its ideas “really extreme.” A CBS News analysis released late last month found that at least 270 of Project 2025’s more than 700 proposals overlap with Trump’s past policies and campaign platform.
In 2016, Trump won Michigan by 10,704 votes, or 0.3 percentage points—the narrowest margin of any state—making Michigan the first Republican presidential candidate to win since 1988. In 2020, President Joe Biden defeated Trump in Michigan by over 154,000 votes, or 2.78 percentage points.
The Cook Political Report, the leading organization for evaluating election results, rates the presidential election in Michigan as a close race with each party having a good chance of winning.
Contact Clara Hendrickson: [email protected] or 313-296-5743. Follow her on X, formerly Twitter, @clarajanehen.
Contact Liam Rappleye: [email protected]
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