Vance Uses Claremont Award Address to Tighten Citizenship Vision, Attack Mamdani

Vice President JD Vance used his acceptance of the Claremont Institute’s 2025 Statesmanship Award in San Diego on Saturday to press the Trump administration’s hard-line vision on citizenship and immigration. Arguing that the United States is “not just an idea” but a nation built by specific people and traditions, Vance said defining American identity solely by adherence to founding principles would be “way over-inclusive” and risk admitting “hundreds of millions, maybe billions, of foreign citizens.” The vice president warned that “you cannot swap 10 million people from anywhere in the world and expect America to remain unchanged,” and criticised state benefit programs for undocumented immigrants, saying they “cheapen the very meaning of citizenship.” He framed the administration’s combination of high tariffs, lower taxes and deregulation as tools to revive domestic industry and strengthen social cohesion. Vance repeatedly invoked New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani, calling the 33-year-old democratic socialist a symbol of what he described as the left’s contradictions. Citing precinct-level results from Mamdani’s recent primary victory, he said the candidate drew strongest support from affluent, highly educated voters while faring worst among Black New Yorkers and residents without college degrees. The speech reflected the Claremont Institute’s longstanding emphasis on heritage-based citizenship and bolstered Vance’s profile ahead of an expected 2028 presidential bid. Claremont president Ryan Williams praised the vice president as a “premier advocate” for a populist course correction after “years of middle-American economic stagnation.”