More than 300 workers gathered at the Metallus steel mill near Canton, Ohio, to hear Vice President JD Vance. They wore bright hard hats and cheered as he praised the Trump administration’s biggest legislative win—the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
But across the street, a group of protesters made sure he saw a different message. They held signs accusing Vance of “protecting pedophiles,” a clear shot at the Epstein file scandal that still follows this administration.
JD Vance got a warm welcome back to Ohio! 😂 #PedoPresident #TrumpIsAPedoRapist #ComplicitCorruptGOP pic.twitter.com/TwweYpU7Nl
— Annie (@AnnieForTruth) July 30, 2025
Reporters asked Vance about the delay in releasing documents related to Jeffrey Epstein. He responded, “We’re not shielding anything,” and said the review process takes time.
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Earlier this July, the Justice Department released a vague memo about the Epstein case. Now, at Trump’s request, they’ve reopened the review. Around the same time, The Wall Street Journal reported that Trump once sent Epstein a lewd birthday card. Attorney General Pam Bondi also told the president that his name appears in the files.
Vance didn’t deny it. Like Trump, he blamed past presidents. He said Biden, Obama, and George W. Bush “decided to go easy on the guy.”
He claimed Trump should be praised for pushing transparency. “Donald J. Trump, I’m telling you, he’s got nothing to hide,” Vance said. “His administration has got nothing to hide, and that’s why he’s been an advocate for full transparency.”
But the focus quickly shifted back to the economy. Vance told the crowd that Trump’s tariffs and new tax plan would put more money into their pockets.
“We’re going to see take-home pay go up in the United States of America,” he said. “In this district, probably $7,000, $8,000 per family over the next three or four years.”
He claimed taxes would’ve gone up without Trump’s signature, “to the tune of thousands of dollars for each and every single one of you.”
The bill makes Trump’s earlier tax cuts permanent and adds new breaks for tips, overtime, and child tax credits. Vance pushed the overtime part hard.
“Raise your hand if you’ve worked an overtime shift in the past year,” he asked. Almost every hand went up.
“The federal government is not going to take a dime of that overtime pay,” Vance said. “Because if you’re spending hard hours away from your family, the federal government ought to keep its hands the hell out of your pocket.”
But not everyone will qualify. The law has income limits, and union workers may be excluded because of how overtime is defined.
Democratic Rep. Emilia Sykes called that out directly.
“He lied directly to these people’s faces,” she said. “Particularly to the steel workers, who are not going to be eligible for the no tax on overtime, because they are union members.”
Sykes also pushed back on claims that Democrats refused to support the bill.
“I was not on that list,” she said. “Neither were any of my colleagues on the Democratic side of the aisle.”
To fund the cuts, the bill slashes health care. The CBO says up to 16 million could lose insurance. Sykes warned, “It’s going to get your grandmother kicked out of her nursing home.”
Featured image via Screengrab
