As Democrats barnstorm battleground states, so does JD Vance
As the new Democratic presidential ticket embarks on a tour of competitive battleground states, Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance is also on the trail to make sure the conversations aren’t one-sided.
Before Vice President Harris took the stage in Philadelphia Tuesday night for the first time with her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, Vance held a lengthy press conference in the city, blasting his opponents and making the case for a second Donald Trump presidency.
“Kamala Harris has been such a disaster as vice president of this country, that everywhere she goes, chaos and uncertainty follow,” he said. “We’ve got a war in Europe, we’ve got a war in the Middle East that threatens to spiral out of control, we've got chaos in the world financial markets. Everything that Kamala Harris touches has been a disaster, and we have got to kick her out of the United States government, not give her a promotion.”
The prebuttal tour comes after a tumultuous six weeks of presidential politics that has seen each major party’s fortunes reverse, and after Vance’s rocky start on the campaign trail as Trump’s vice presidential pick.
Following President Biden's abysmal debate performance, and coming into the Republican National Convention last month, Trump enjoyed a sizable polling lead against Biden. Trump's selection of the Ohio U.S. senator to join the ticket signaled confidence in the race.
But in the ensuing weeks, Biden ended his reelection campaign and Democrats coalesced around Harris with a surge in fundraising and enthusiasm that has led to a much more competitive contest.
A new NPR/PBS News/Marist poll, out Tuesdsay, showed Harris leading Trump nationally, 51%-48%.
Vance tries to find his campaign footing
In early appearances after accepting the nomination, Vance struggled with some attack lines against Harris, went viral for joking that Democrats would call drinking Diet Mountain Dew racist, and came under fire for prior comments in which he derided Democratic women without children as “childless cat ladies who are miserable at their own lives.” Democrats have pounded away at Vance for his views and comments.
Now, Vance appears to have sharpened his stump speech and is taking a leading role in attacking Harris and Walz, attempting to paint them as far-left liberals out of touch with everyday Americans.
“It is normal people who suffer when Kamala Harris refuses to do her job, and it is normal people who stand to benefit the most when we reelect Donald J. Trump president of the United States,” he said in Philadelphia.
His events have focused in particular on tying Harris to the Biden administration's record on immigration and border security, and have featured comments from local residents who blame Democratic policies for worsening crime, opioid addiction and other issues.
“Democrats claim to have cleaned up the streets, but it has not worked,” Geraldine Briggs of Philadelphia said. “The border crisis has led to an influx of drugs coming across the border and impacting families like mine throughout the city.”
In Michigan Wednesday, Vance expanded his criticism to Walz, who was a more moderate Democrat during his time in Congress but as governor of Minnesota has embraced more progressive policies.
“This is a radical human being who comes from the far-left wing of the Democrat Party,” Vance said in Shelby Township, Mich. “And what Kamala Harris is telling all of us by selecting Tim Walz is that she bends the knee to the far left of the Democrat Party.”
Harris and Walz are set to rally in Michigan later Wednesday.
Both Vance and Walz are still relatively unknown to the broader electorate, so these early days of campaigning seek to set the tone for the next three months.
Vance’s Republican counterprogramming has still been largely overshadowed by Harris campaign events and recent controversy around the Trump campaign.
He was asked Wednesday about inflammatory comments Trump made regarding Harris’ biracial background last week, including claims that Harris “turned Black” for political gain.
“I was not bothered at all by what President Trump said,” said Vance, whose wife is Indian American. “And I didn't take it as an attack on Kamala Harris' biracial background at all. What I took it as was an attack on Kamala Harris being a chameleon. She pretends to be one thing when she's in front of one audience. She pretends to be something else when she's in front of another audience.”
Both Harris and Vance canceled planned trips to North Carolina Thursday ahead of Tropical Storm Debby.
Trump’s only scheduled campaign event this week is a rally in Bozeman, Mont., for U.S. Senate nominee Tim Sheehy in a competitive race that could help decide control of that chamber.
Transcript
MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:
Well, as the new Democratic presidential ticket, Vice President Harris and Governor Walz - as they campaign in key states this week, so, too, does Republican vice-presidential nominee, JD Vance. The Ohio senator is speaking with reporters before each Democratic rally, which landed him in Michigan today.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
JD VANCE: And what Kamala Harris is telling all of us by selecting Tim Walz is that she bends the knee to the far left of the Democrat Party. She's done it every single time in government. She's done it in who she selected as her VP nominee, and she will do it if the American people give her a promotion to president of the United States.
KELLY: NPR's Stephen Fowler is tracking this. He's here now. Hey, Stephen.
STEPHEN FOWLER, BYLINE: Hey there.
KELLY: Sounds like kind of a counterprogramming tour here by JD Vance. What's the strategy?
FOWLER: Yeah. So, I mean, this is a big week for Democrats. Kamala Harris is the official nominee. Walz is the VP pick. They're coming off of record fundraising and enthusiasm. They're taking the momentum show on the road, especially after polling shows the pathway to victory doesn't just run through the Midwestern blue wall of Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin. So while Harris and Walz are holding these big rallies, Vance is offering a prebuttal of sorts ahead of each one to make sure that conversation isn't one-sided.
KELLY: A prebuttal - what does that actually look like?
FOWLER: Instead of these dueling large-scale events, Vance is taking a different tack. In the last day or so in Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin, Vance has done lengthy sessions answering questions from the media and bringing out everyday Americans he says have been harmed by different parts of the Biden-Harris agenda.
The main thing he focused on - immigration. In Philadelphia yesterday, Vance blasted how Democrats have handled the U.S.-Mexico border, and he used locals to tie it to larger issues like opioid addiction. Here's Geraldine Briggs of Philadelphia.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
GERALDINE BRIGGS: Democrats claim to have cleaned up the streets in Philadelphia, but it has not worked. The border crisis has led to an influx of drugs coming across the border and impacting families like mine.
FOWLER: In Michigan, Vance also homed in on some of Harris' comments in the past about policing and crime and implied immigrants who come here illegally will commit crimes in people's neighborhoods - though data does show they're less likely to commit violent crimes. And in Wisconsin, he mentioned inflation and the economy as something Democrats have harmed and he and Trump can fix.
KELLY: How has the addition of Walz to the Democratic ticket - how is that affecting the message that Vance and Trump are trying to get across?
FOWLER: Well, since Biden dropped out, Republicans really haven't been able to pivot away from a campaign catered to beating up on Joe Biden. Now that it's Kamala Harris, Republicans have struggled to define her in the same way. But naming Walz as her vice-presidential pick gives Republicans a chance to offer differing policy visions, as you heard Vance say at the top of this conversation. I mean, we're not even 48 hours into having the official Democratic ticket yet, but we have already seen some of the threads being pulled on Walz's record as governor of Minnesota - as a kind of progressive governor, too - emerge.
KELLY: Indeed. And is that policy contrast - is that playing out at these democratic events this week?
FOWLER: Yeah, absolutely. I mean, so much of this year has been focused on Joe Biden's age and his fitness for office. Democrats are more than happy to talk about policy, Mary Louise. Harris and Walz, in Philadelphia last night, said they're making their campaign these next three months about what they're doing in the present and their plans for the future, and that Trump's vision is stuck in the past.
KELLY: NPR's Stephen Fowler, in Atlanta. Thank you, Stephen.
FOWLER: Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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