Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance took an apparent jab at Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris during an event in Michigan, when he echoed a talking point about her upbringing that she often repeats at her own events.
When speaking to a group of supporters in Traverse City, Vance mentioned he also “grew up in a working class family” and knows what it takes to stand up for the middle class in an election year unsettled by high inflation and crippling costs.
“Now, look, a lot of you know my story and a lot of you know where I came from. Look, I grew up in a working-class family. And so, when the Democrats — when Kamala Harris — talks about her middle class background, when the Democrats talk about how they stand for working people, they’re not telling the truth,” Vance said.
He added: “They’re lying to you.”
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Republican vice presidential nominee, U.S. Sen. J.D. Vance, R-Ohio, spoke to supporters during a campaign event at the Northwestern Michigan Fair grounds on September 25, 2024 in Traverse City, Michigan. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)
In his remarks, Vance said voters can look back to how many Democrats in positions of power during the COVID-19 pandemic sought to enforce lockdowns and to keep them in place while Americans were desperate to return to work.
“Here’s how we know they’re lying to you,” he continued. “Remember back a few years ago when there were a lot of nurses, a lot of people in a lot of industries that were losing their jobs because they refused to take the COVID shot? Now, I believe if you want to take the Covid shot, take the shot. If you don’t want to take the COVID shot, don’t take the COVID shot. But listen, it is disgraceful for Kamala Harris to say that she stands for the American working man when she fired millions of American working men and women from their jobs for not doing what Kamala Harris would tell them to do.”
Vance was visiting Michigan as the state represents an important background for former President Trump’s re-election chances and for down-ballot races like former Rep. Mike Rogers, who is running to represent Michigan in the U.S. Senate.
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After commending Rogers, Vance turned his attention to the current vice president.
“I don’t know if you saw the news but Kamala Harris has decided to give her first solo national interview,” Vance said. “I’ve watched a couple of these interviews, local journalists with Kamala Harris, and I’ve realized why it is that Kamala Harris doesn’t give interviews. And the answer is that every time she answers a question, I think we gain about 100,000 votes, me and Donald Trump.”
“They ask Kamala, of course, because she’s the vice president and she is the reason why we have sky-high inflation and a wide open border, what are you going to do? What is your specific plan to solve the inflation crisis that’s making it unaffordable to buy groceries and housing? And Kamala will say, well, did you know that I grew up in a middle-class family, I had a very nice lawn back there in Berkeley, California,” he continued. “It’s like, well, that might be true. What the hell does that have to do with lower inflation?”
Vance added: “Or they’ll say, Kamala Harris, we’ve got a war in every new continent across the country. Kamala Harris, your administration has in some ways led to the policies that caused this conflict. How are you going to solve it as President of the United States? And Kamala Harris will say, well, did you know that I worked at McDonald’s for about three months when I was a teenager?”
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The Republican senator’s tirade against the Democratic nominee by arguing she fails to offer specifics in her answers.
“I think my friends, all of us watching this interview are saying to ourselves, what is Kamala Harris? What is she actually planning to do for the American people? And the answer is we don’t know. [But] we don’t have to guess that much because she’s been the vice president for three and a half years and she hasn’t done a thing. So let’s dispense with this idea that Kamala Harris is going to fix the very problem she caused.”
Vance spoke to a crowd during a rally at the Berks County Fairgrounds on September 21, 2024 in Leesport, Pennsylvania. (Matthew Hatcher/Getty Images)
And, “Kamala Harris is why we have sky-high inflation. Kamala Harris is why you can’t afford groceries or housing. Kamala Harris is why the world is at war right now in nearly every single continent. Kamala Harris is why the border is wide open. And Kamala Harris, you want a promotion? The message from Michigan is you’re fired. Go back to San Francisco where you belong.”
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Michigan, along with Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, are the Democrats’ so-called “blue wall,” which the party reliably won for a quarter-century in presidential elections.
This stronghold completely crumbled during Trump’s successful 2016 presidential run, when he narrowly carried all three states. However, Biden narrowly won back all three states in 2020.