JD Vance’s California farmer fans say “we’re weird like him”

California farmers reportedly embraced the “weird” label that some have placed on Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance during a GOP fundraiser.

Recent rhetoric from Democrats and other critics of the 2024 Republican presidential ticket has classified both Vance and former President Donald Trump as “weird” due to their policy positions and public behavior.

Fundraiser guests had a different view of Vance in rural Coalinga, California, on Wednesday, according to Politico. Barbara Hallmeyer, a GOP delegate and former high school teacher, told the outlet that she and others in the crowd were “weird like him,” referring to Vance.

About 150 Trump and Vance supporters reportedly forked over $3,300 each for entry into the event, while those who wanted a photo opportunity with the vice presidential hopeful paid as much as $25,000.

Newsweek reached out for comment to the Trump/Vance campaign via email on Wednesday night.

Hallmeyer was not the only fundraiser attendee countering criticism of Vance, who has been under fire in the weeks since his selection as Trump’s running mate over issues like his past support for total abortion bans and comments on “childless cat ladies.”

“[President] Joe Biden and [Vice President] Kamala Harris, they don’t care about us,” farmer Steve Samra, who was also at the event, told Politico. “I don’t think [Vance is] anti-women … I think his wife was at one point anti-Trump, but I think she’s gotten over that.”

Republican leaders have touted Vance, the author of bestselling memoir Hillbilly Elegy, as a secret weapon for the Trump campaign to appeal with voters in rural areas. His appeal to farmers wealthy enough to attend Wednesday’s fundraiser was clear.

While California is anything but a GOP stronghold, many rural areas of the state lean heavily red. In the Central Valley, home to Coalinga, some have become furious at Democrats for diverting much-needed water away from the farmlands to protect endangered fish species.

Fundraiser co-host William Bourdeau, vice president at Harris Farms—the site of the fundraiser—told Politico that Central Valley farmers “are an endangered species.”

Fresno County Supervisor Buddy Mendes told The Sacramento Bee that Vance discussed the water issue “really just in generalities” during the fundraiser, while adding that “he knows the federal government can only do so much because part of it’s a state issue.”

Vance also told guests that he considered Harris becoming Biden’s likely replacement as the Democratic presidential nominee “a coup d’etat” and said that a large amount of fundraising was required “to combat the news media’s false narrative,” according to Mendes.

Regardless of support for Vance and Trump among California Republicans, the GOP presidential ticket has little realistic chance of winning the Golden State in November. A poll released on Tuesday by Capitol Weekly found that Harris holds a 24-point lead over Trump in California.