Photo: Alamy
Vice President JD Vance called on Americans to reject what he described as a one-sided view of the United States during Independence Day remarks aboard the USS Kearsarge (LHD-3) in New York Harbor, urging the country to recognize both its shortcomings and its achievements as it celebrates its 250th anniversary.
Speaking during the July 4 event, Vance said Americans would hear criticism focused solely on the nation’s flaws.
“Ladies and gentlemen, I have to address what you will hear from some loud voices today. Because as much as all of us, whether we’re Democrat or Republican, whatever our political persuasion, all of us are celebrating, but you’ll hear a couple small but loud voices today speak obsessively not of our national greatness, but of our national imperfections,” Vance said.
Vance said critics portray the United States primarily as a country defined by inequality and oppression.
“They will speak of the powerless and the dispossessed” and argue “America is just another country where the weak struggle against the strong,” he said.
He argued that such a view misunderstands the country’s history and character.
“These people misunderstand the essence of America, from Thomas Jefferson to Henry Kaiser,” Vance said. “They misunderstand that we all have moments of great power,” despite human imperfections.
Vance urged Americans to adopt a broader perspective as the nation marks its semiquincentennial.
“What I’d ask you to do, my fellow Americans, on our 250th birthday, is to reject the two-dimensional view of your fellow citizens, and reject the two-dimensional view of your country,” Vance said. “Reject that America is a place for zero-sum thinking, because it is not. Our history is one of people carving a great civilization out of the wilderness. Reject the view of your nation that sees only its sins, but not its grace and its greatness.”
Vance’s remarks came amid ongoing political debate over how America’s history and role in the world should be viewed.
