ERR in the US: J.D. Vance skeptical on Ukraine support

Donald Trump's Republican running-mate J.D. Vance, Senator from Ohio, has given his first public speech in that capacity at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and ERR's North American correspondent Laura Kalam was there on the spot.
Vance has expressed opposition to providing military aid to Ukraine, and in spring voted in Congress against the near US$60-billion aid package.
Cowboy hats were much in evidence again as Kalam got to speak to Republican National Convention delegates, many of whom agreed with Vance's line on Ukraine.
Texas delegate Bruce Hausman said Vance had been: "Right on, spot on. We don't need to be sending any more money to Ukraine. They were never our allies; Trump when he was the first time in the office, he kept the Ukrainian president in check, in fact he was a very good president. And he kept Putin in check."
Alabama delegate Courtney agreed, saying: "When you give other countries a lot of money, but you're still not handling some of the really big issues like the border crisis that we have here, it's a concern for many of us."
However, not all Republicans agree on this issue.
Delegate Clint Grantham, also from Alabama, told ERR: "The US should continue supporting any country where there is outrageous violence and aggression. This world is big enough for all of us, and there just in 2024 isn't room sort of for a sort of 17th or 18th century thinking."
Wisconsin delegate George Bureau said: "The U.S. should support Ukraine, and the more support they bring into the war. And I think with president trump from a strong leadership in the U.S., he can get the parties to the table."
And what do the Republicans who heard Vance's speech think about NATO?
Bruce Hausman said: "I don't think much about NATO and I was prior military too. NATO again needs to pull their fair share, and hopefully trump will have that happen. This is his second term, and they haven't pulled their fair share."
George Bureau was more rosy on the alliance, saying: "NATO should play a very important part both now.. and in our future security, particularly for Europe. Again I think that we'll start to realize that we need to co exist, in may ways with Russia."
Vance's speech primarily focused on domestic policy and only briefly touched on foreign policy, noting that there will be no more "free rides" at the expense of American taxpayers.
Vance said: "Together, we will make sure our allies share in the burden of securing world peace. No more free rides for nations that betray the generosity of the American taxpayer."
Thursday was the Republican National Convention's final day and culminated in a speech from Donald Trump.
Elsewhere in the country, incumbent president and presumed Democratic candidate Joe Biden was on the campaign trail in Las Vegas.
Much of the focus on Biden both before and after the recent assassination attempt on Trump has been on the president's well-being and fitness for a second term.
ERR's Astrid Kannel spoke to Zaira Contreras, who had attended the speech Biden made to Unidos US, a Latino civil rights group.
She said: "I think he needs to step down and let VP lead, and that would be amazing. But we'll see what happens, but it was kind of disappointing, a little bit disappointing."
The president himself had received a coronavirus diagnosis this week.
Speaking to BET News, which primarily caters to the African-American community, President Biden said: "It's a medical condition that emerged, and so many doctors came and said you've got this problem and that problem, but they made a serious mistake in the whole debate, and look the reason I ran you may remember, I said I was going to be a transitional candidate, and I thought I'd be able to move from this just to pass it on to someone else. But I didn't anticipate things getting so, so, so divided."
Not all bystanders in Las Vegas were convinced. One, Jason, a stated Trump supporter, said: "I think it's fake. I don't believe it's done this way. It's all conspiracy theories, I really think that. That they're setting this up to play it off that he's doing this just to make up for his bad presentation at the debate, and everything else that's going on."
The original "Aktuaalne kaamera" slot is here.
Just as the recent U.K. election took place on a signal date on the other side of the Atlantic, July 4, this year's U.S. Presidential election's date of November 5 will chime a chord with British readers.
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Editor: Andrew Whyte, Merili Nael
Source: 'Aktuaalne kaamera,' reporters Laura Kalam and Astrid Kannel.