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ROCKY MOUNT, N.C. — Vice President JD Vance traveled to North Carolina and hosted an event Friday to tout the economy, advocate for Republicans to win elections in the Tar Heel State, and touch on the situation in Iran.
Vance was also joined by former RNC chairman and GOP Senate nominee Michael Whatley and Small Business Association Administrator Kelly Loeffler at a local event space.
“In just a very brief time, we’ve seen new home purchases rise to their highest level in five years,” Vance said. “Since the last time Donald Trump was president, we’ve seen the cost of rents drop for six months in a row.”
Vice President JD Vance traveled to Rocky Mount, N.C., where he touted recent economic gains and urged voters to support Republicans in the upcoming midterms. (Kent Nishimura/Getty Images)
“We’ve seen the average tax refund that’s going to come to the people of North Carolina, about $3,700 per family,” Vance added. “And we see interest rates that are the lowest they’ve been since the last time that Donald J. Trump was president.”
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Vance was introduced by Loeffler, the former Georgia senator whom Trump appointed to lead small business advocacy as head of the SBA last February.
“Together, we’re cleaning up massive, wasteful spending and the abuse of government programs,” Loeffler told the audience. “And you’ve seen that the fraud that sent your hard-earned tax dollars overseas and the Democrats open borders, defund the police agendas that invited violent crime into what should be safe communities, taking the lives of innocent victims like arenas.”
Vance addressed the situation in Iran, both to the crowd and in response to a question posed by an AP reporter. The vice president pointed to nuclear capability in Iran as the primary reason for the U.S. engagement.
An explosion after an Israeli airstrike in Beirut on Monday. (Hassan Ammar/AP Photo)
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“You all know that right now, we are engaged in a military operation to ensure, as the president has said repeatedly, that Iran can never have a nuclear weapon,” Vance said. “That is a simple, simple principle and standard. Frankly, every president. Has taken affirmative steps to ensure that Iran can never have a nuclear weapon.”
When asked what he advised the president before strikes began in Iran, Vance said he wasn’t giving out information from classified briefings in the situation room.
“I’m not going to show up here and in front of God and everybody else, tell you exactly what I said in that classified room, partially because I don’t want to go to prison, and partially because I think it’s important for the President of the United States to be able to talk to his advisers without those advisers running their mouth to the American media,” Vance explained.
President Donald J. Trump and Vice President Vance in The Situation Room. (The White House via X)
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Vance also strongly advocated for Whatley’s campaign for senate, slamming his Democrat opponent and pushing for the GOP candidate in what will be a contentious and competitive election in November.
Whatley won the GOP primary in North Carolina to fill retiring Republican Sen. Thom Tillis’ seat, and now faces former Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper in the general election.
“Roy Cooper is one of these people who clearly cares way more for foreign countries than he does the United States of America,” Vance said. “You see the passion in his voice when he talks about protecting illegal aliens. You’ll never hear that passion when he’s talking about the people in this room.”
Michael Whatley is the GOP candidate for U.S. senate in North Carolina. (J. Scott Applewhite/AP Photo)
“You hear the passion in his voice when he talks about sending hundreds of billions of dollars to the war in Ukraine,” the vice president added.
A spokesperson for Cooper responded to Fox News Digital’s request for comment, blasting Whatley and denying claims he protects criminals.
“Roy Cooper is the only candidate who spent his career prosecuting violent criminals and keeping thousands of them behind bars as attorney general, and signing tough on crime laws and stricter pretrial release bail policy as governor,” the spokesperson told Fox. “DC insider and Big Oil lobbyist Michael Whatley is desperate to distract from his support for hundreds of millions in cuts to local law enforcement and public safety efforts that keep North Carolinians safe.”
Vice President JD Vance was in North Carolina on Friday. (Kent Nishimura/Getty Images)
Vance concluded the event after answering a question from Fox News Digital regarding progress made by a fraud task force that was launched in January under the Department of Justice and individual states he was planning to target, in addition to Minnesota.
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“We know there’s a lot of fraud in California, and we’re trying to get to the bottom of exactly what it looks like and what we’ve done in the Trump administration,” Vance said. “And the president has really empowered us to do this, is to take the first national look at the way the American people have been defrauded over many, many years.”
The vice president revealed that there was “at least” $19 billion in fraud uncovered in Minneapolis and the surrounding area under the Trump administration.
Preston Mizell is a writer with Fox News. Story tips can be sent to Preston.Mizell@fox.com and on X @MizellPreston