Tipsheet

VP Vance to America: 'Reject the Two-Dimensional View' of Our Nation on Its 250th Birthday

Scott McClallen
Scott McClallen  |  July 04, 2026 1:00 PM

Vice President J.D. Vance gave a 20-minute speech aboard the USS Kearsarge in New York Harbor on America’s 250th birthday. 

Vance said that more than 50 countries nationwide sent fighters or naval vessels to the U.S. 

“We celebrate 250 years of America facing the future without fear. We celebrate 250 years of proving what a free people can achieve by the providence of our almighty Creator.”


Vance urged Americans to unite on America’s birthday and remember why the nation was founded. 

“We are a people formed by generations of self-governance and personal industry. We are formed by Frontier Assembly Hall and Congregation, by River Valley and Prairie and Factory Floor. We are formed by the conviction that we are bound to one another, not only by bloodline or creed alone, but by a common character, a shared faith, a shared future. 


Vance urged Americans to “reject the two-dimensional view” of America that ignores the great figures in America’s history who sacrificed to build the country we live in today. 


“Reject that America is a place for zero-sum thinking, because it’s 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 greatness.”


“Everything that we have done, everything that we have done as a country, we have done together, not as citizens divided against each other, but as a common people working toward a common future.”