On third day of Republican convention, Trump and Vance focus on Americans 'left behind'  

If there was one theme on the third day of the Republican convention, it was the focus on Americans who have been left behind, particularly in the Rustbelt of the industrial Midwest.

After reconfirming that he was accepting the role as Donald Trump's running mate, J.D. Vance told his own story of achieving the American dream, saying that this was becoming increasingly elusive. He repeatedly emphasised that he would not leave any Americans behind.

Vance described his hometown as being "left behind" by the political elite, invoking Biden's support for NAFTA and the Iraq War, and vowing to never do the same or forget where he came from.

"To the people of Middletown Ohio and all the forgotten communities, in Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Ohio and every corner of our nation, I promise you this: I will be a vice president who never forgets where he came from," he said, naming the battleground states that Trump won in 2016 and hopes to reclaim in 2024.

Earlier in the day, Trent Conaway, the mayor of East Palestine, where a toxic chemical spill from a train derailment in February of last year contaminated vast parts of the town's water and soil, said from the convention stage that Biden had neglected his people.

The Biden administration waited 10 days to address the accident, leaving many locals feeling betrayed. It wasn't until around three weeks after the derailment that Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg visited the site, a day after Trump went out to see the community.

Referring to the Biden administration, he said that their community "needed so much, and he delivered so little." Trump, he said by contrast, showed that "his concern was real."

In the evening, a group of families of the US service members who were killed in an explosion during the US withdrawal from Afghanistan in August 2021 spoke about feeling abandoned by Biden and listened to by Trump, when he hosted them at his property in Bedminster, New Jersey.

The audience was visibly moved by these speeches, and it was clear that Trump had tapped into a shortcoming from Biden in not personally reaching out to these families in their time of need.

Along with not leaving people behind, another recurring theme was immigration, which several of the speakers, including Vance, linked together.

At times, speeches that were generally a positive took on dark undertones in their descriptions of immigration.

"When we allow newcomers into our American family, we allow them on our terms," Vance said, followed by loud applause. "That's how we preserve the continuity of this project from 250 in the past to hopefully 250 years in the future."

"That's not just an idea, my friends. That's not just a set of principles, even though the ideas and principles are great. That is a homeland. That is our homeland," he continued. 

As the audience applauded the speakers' multiple statements about preventing illegal immigration, many held signs reading "Mass Deportation Now" that were distributed at the convention.

Though immigrants do not tend to take jobs that were previously held by factory workers in the Rustbelt (most undocumented workers work in agriculture), it is a theme that will likely continue throughout the campaign.