Vice President JD Vance invokes Huey Long’s slogan while warning of crime in Ohio
At a steel plant in his Ohio hometown, Vice President JD Vance quoted Huey Long’s “every man a king” line to argue that crime threatens ordinary families.
During a speech at the Cleveland-Cliffs Middletown Works steel plant in Ohio, Vice President JD Vance invoked the slogan of former Louisiana governor Huey Long, reminding the audience that “every man a king” was the aim of Long’s political agenda. Vance argued that such a vision is impossible when citizens face criminal threats like muggings and carjackings, tying the point to his administration’s recent crackdown on illegal border crossings.
He also highlighted his grandfather’s belief that the Democratic Party once championed labor unions. The article provides a brief biography of Long, noting his rise to the governorship at age 34, his implementation of free textbooks, road construction, and wealth-redistribution programs under the Share Our Wealth plan launched in 1934. Long, who called himself the “Kingfish,” broke with President Franklin Roosevelt and was killed by an assassin in the Louisiana State Capitol in September 1935. Vance’s use of the historic quote was meant to frame contemporary public-safety concerns within a broader political narrative.
Why it matters
The speech shows how current leaders use historic populist rhetoric to frame modern crime and immigration debates.
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