Bay City – Vice President J.D. Vance made his first visit to Michigan on Friday to give a rousing 20-minute speech to a crowd of working-class employees and Republican leadership at Vantage Plastics—a manufacturer that supplies the Big Three and makes battery housings for Tesla.
The first millennial VP looked every bit a natural, as he promoted a new brand of America First economic power that incentivizes companies to build and manufacture domestically, while punishing corporations and businesses that offshore their labor to China or the Global South.
The presence of the Second Lady by his side on his barnstorming tour was not lost on the crowd. As a mother of small children, it would be understandable if she sat this one out. Her presence resonated.
Policy and politics aside, a refreshing vibe shift to this moment was readily apparent. Vance, 40, is the youngest vice president in 72 years. Not since a 40-year-old Richard Nixon rode a ticket with President Eisenhower, winning the White House in 1953, has America been blessed with this kind of youth movement in Washington.
Vance’s visit also provided a stage for the unveiling of a new united Michigan Republican Party, freshly minted in the 2025 state convention. Stuck in a seemingly endless struggle for several years, MIGOP now has a new chair in Jim Runestad, control of the State House with new Speaker Matt Hall, and exciting possible contenders for the 2026 senate and gubernatorial race.
That renewed focus on 2026 created a stirring sense of celebrity gawking, as former gubernatorial nominee Tudor Dixon and Rep. John James could barely get to their seats as throngs of attendees lined up for selfies. James—a towering figure who looks like a 1980s action star—seems primed for higher office, and everyone at the event reacted in kind. He even signed a couple autographs.
Perhaps most interesting was the media—or more accurately, its response to the Vice President, and the changing demography of the media scrum.
The Trump administration has taken efforts to diversify the media and expand access to journalists and news platforms once treated like cancer by legacy media.
The media elites, for lack of a more derogatory term, have only themselves to blame for their diminished credibility after decades of malfeasance, yet they continue to persist in further alienating the American public.
The notion that legacy media has already written their stories—and that they shape events or facts to fit a narrative—was on full display. Several reporters for corporate media outlets based in Michigan were writing their stories in the bullpen before the event even started.
I stood to the side and behind them scratching my head. How is this credible? How is this normal to them?
“They hate that they have to be here, and they’re terrified of Vance,” said a journalist from a small Saginaw-based news outlet. “They can’t wait to get out of here.”
This contempt was exemplified for me when many of the reporters and photojournalists ran out of the building like it was on fire the very moment the Vice President finished speaking.
To be fair, everyone present was exceptionally friendly and cordial to me as a new member of their industry, but a few couldn’t hide their shock that a journalist from an independent media outlet was vetted and given access on-site.
“That never really happens, in fact, I don’t even think I can recall that happening,” said a photojournalist from Reuters.
A lot is happening in congruence. A millennial vice president, a new Republican Party, and the birth of a new media to report on it.
Jay Murray is a writer for Michigan Enjoyer and has been a Metro Detroit-based professional investigator for 22 years. Follow him on X @Stainless31.
