U.S. Senator J.D. Vance, the Republican vice presidential candidate from Ohio, speaks at a press conference at the Shelby Township Police Department in Michigan on Wednesday.
Emily Erkonen/Getty Images North America
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Emily Erkonen/Getty Images North America
As the new Democratic presidential candidates begin touring hotly contested battleground states, Republican vice presidential candidate J.D. Vance is also working to ensure the conversation doesn’t become one-sided.
Before Vice President Harris took the stage for her first speech in Philadelphia on Tuesday night with her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, Vance held a lengthy news conference in the city in which he lashed out at his opponent , and makes the case for a second term as president for Donald Trump.
“Kamala Harris is a disaster as vice president of this country, and wherever she goes, chaos and uncertainty ensue,” he said. “We have a war in Europe, we have a war in the Middle East that threatens to get out of control, we have chaos in the world’s financial markets. Everything Kamala Harris is involved in is a disaster, and we have to Kick her out of the U.S. government instead of giving her a promotion.
The pretrial trip comes after a tumultuous six weeks of presidential politics that have seen fortunes reverse for each major party and Vance got off to a rocky start on the campaign trail as Trump’s vice presidential pick.
Trump has a significant lead over Biden in polls following President Biden’s poor debate performance and his appearance at the Republican National Convention last month. Trump’s choice of Ohio U.S. senator to join the race shows his confidence in the campaign.
But in the weeks that followed, as Biden ended his reelection bid and Democrats rallied around Harris, fundraising and enthusiasm surged, leading to a tighter race.
The latest NPR/PBS News/Marist poll released on Tuesday showed Harris leading Trump nationally, with an approval rating of 51%-48%.
Vance tries to find his campaign footing
In his early appearances since accepting the nomination, Vance has struggled with some of the attacks on Harris, going viral for joking that Democrats would call drinking Diet Mountain Dew racist and facing criticism for previous comments, In his comments, he derided childless Democratic women as “childless cats,” ladies who are miserable about their lives. Democrats blasted Vance for his views and comments.
Now, Vance appears to have stepped up his campaign rhetoric and taken a leadership role in attacking Harris and Walz, trying to paint them as far-left liberals who are out of touch with ordinary Americans.
“It’s ordinary people who suffer when Kamala Harris refuses to do her job, and it’s ordinary people who benefit the most when we re-elect Donald J. Trump as President of the United States,” he said in Philadelphia.
His campaign has focused specifically on linking Harris to the Biden administration’s record on immigration and border security, and has featured comments from local residents who blame Democratic policies for worsening crime, opioid addiction and other problems.
“Democrats claim to have cleaned up the streets, but that doesn’t work,” said Geraldine Briggs of Philadelphia. “The border crisis is causing drugs to flood across the border, affecting families like mine across the city.”
In Michigan on Wednesday, Vance extended his criticism to Walz, who was a more moderate Democrat during his time in Congress but adopted more progressive policies as Minnesota governor.
“This is a radical from the far left of the Democratic Party,” Vance said in Shelby Township, Miss. “Kamala Harris’s choice of Tim Walz tells us all that she knelt to the far left of the Democratic Party. “
Harris and Walz are scheduled to rally in Michigan later Wednesday.
Vance and Walz are still relatively unknown to the broader electorate, so these early campaign events are intended to set the tone for the next three months.
Vance’s Republican counterplan remains largely overshadowed by the Harris campaign and recent controversies surrounding the Trump campaign.
On Wednesday, he was asked about Trump’s inflammatory comments last week about Harris’ mixed-race background, including claims that Harris “went black” for political gain.
“I don’t have any problem with President Trump’s comments at all,” said Vance, whose wife is Indian-American. “I don’t think it’s an attack on Kamala Harris’s mixed-race background at all. I think it’s an attack on Kamala Harris being a chameleon. When she’s in front of an audience, she’s pretending to be one thing. When When she’s in front of other audiences, she pretends to be someone else.
Both Harris and Vance canceled plans to travel to North Carolina on Thursday ahead of Tropical Storm Debbie’s arrival.
Trump’s only scheduled campaign event this week is a rally in Bozeman, Montana, for U.S. Senate nominee Tim Sheehy in a closely contested race that could help decide the Senate Control.
