J.D. Vance’s RNC Speech Was a Total Bore. It May Have Been by Design.
Donald Trump’s running mate was practically boring people to tears with his speech at the Republican National Convention.
![J.D. Vance](http://images.newrepublic.com/d585ca30d503f2af655927f785baacb89a21d933.jpeg?auto=format&fit=crop&crop=faces&q=65&w=768&h=undefined&ar=3%3A2&ixlib=react-9.0.2&w=768)
Senator J.D. Vance’s speech at the Republican National Convention Wednesday night thoroughly underwhelmed the viewing audience, including Donald Trump.
The newly anointed vice presidential nominee reportedly bored the convention audience in Milwaukee, with his small fist pumps and stories about rural Appalachia failing to win over a friendly crowd. Trump even appeared to be dozing off at times.
An extremely underwhelming speech by J.D. Vance! So boring, Trump fell asleep! pic.twitter.com/O20eqyEZGW
— Maxwell Alejandro Frost (@MaxwellFrostFL) July 18, 2024
The speech didn’t receive much praise outside of die-hard MAGA Republicans on social media, with the consensus being that it was dull and fell flat.
![Twitter screenshot Jon Lovett @jonlovett Expected and worried about a much stronger speech from Vance 11:22 PM · Jul 17, 2024 · 90.2K Views](http://images.newrepublic.com/eb95a0a38daefaeed9f6e0aee33798c18c3e5fa9.png?w=1172)
![Twitter Screenshot Christopher Hooks @cd_hooks vance speech weak, delivered poorly. meemaw tapping her fingers in heaven. 11:04 PM · Jul 17, 2024 · 4,818 Views](http://images.newrepublic.com/f66ec4d528d7adf4015f637d315a00bd5c94bceb.png?w=1182)
But that may have been by design, according to one observer, as Trump never likes to be overshadowed or have too much attention taken away from him.
![Twitter screenshot Bill Kristol @BillKristol Vance’s speech falling flat. But I imagine Trump’s people insisted it be flat. No competition for the Big Guy. 11:20 PM · Jul 17, 2024 · 69.8K Views](http://images.newrepublic.com/8a4a14060dd5762ead905f9fa373decec2fb5c39.png?w=1178)
And Trump may not have chosen Vance for his speaking skills but rather for his connections to right-wing Silicon Valley bigwigs like Peter Thiel and David Sacks.