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Megyn Kelly’s recent segment drawing a straight line between Vice President J.D. Vance and former First Lady Michelle Obama captured something millions of Americans already feel: two very different visions of the country and of gratitude. One side talks about standing up for American interests and expecting respect in return; the other frets about political outcomes from a place of elite comfort.
Michelle Obama has been vocal about being “terrified” of what another term in the wrong hands could mean for the country, warning that Americans must not take our democracy for granted. That rhetoric — coming from a family whose wealth and celebrity rest on the American experiment — reads to many like anxiety from the top rather than solidarity with working people who built this nation.
J.D. Vance, by contrast, tells a story rooted in gratitude for opportunity and a fierce pride in American institutions, recounting the humbling moment when he was offered the vice presidential slot and reminding voters that gratitude and accountability matter. Vance’s pitch resonates with conservatives because it speaks to ordinary Americans who know the country’s promise was earned through hard work, not handed out by elites.
That posture of demanding respect and appreciation played out dramatically in the Oval Office when Vance confronted Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and bluntly asked whether he had said “thank you” during the meeting, forcing a debate about reciprocity and America’s standing. Critics pounced that Zelenskyy has publicly thanked the United States many times, but the moment crystallized a larger point Vance and his allies keep making: American generosity does not obligate passivity from our leaders or foreign partners.
Americans should be allowed to admire and defend their country without being lectured by comfortable members of the elite class who seem to live by different rules. When elites fret and scold from their estates and podcasts, while rising leaders like Vance speak plainly to the country’s needs and expectations, voters notice the contrast and choose loyalty to the nation over fashionable alarmism.
Hardworking patriots deserve leaders who demand respect for American sacrifice and sovereignty, not perpetual hand-wringing from a distant, pampered class. If conservatives want to win hearts and policy, they should double down on the message Vance represents: gratitude for opportunity, firmness in defense, and a refusal to cede the moral high ground to those who treat America like a problem to be managed rather than a blessing to be treasured.
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