4 takeaways from JD Vance’s final stop in Michigan

GRAND RAPIDS, MI – From “fake dances” to first-day deportations, Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance took aim Wednesday at his running mate’s opponent and offered a glimpse of what a second Donald Trump presidency might look like.

The Ohio senator spoke to a crowd of hundreds on Wednesday, August 14, at a family-owned trucking company in rural Kent County.

Related: “You’ve been betrayed,” JD Vance tells crowd in rural Kent County, Michigan

It was Vance’s third time campaigning in Michigan since he was announced as former President Donald Trump’s running mate on July 15.

Michigan is considered a key state for both campaigns to secure the presidency this fall. Polls show Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee, are in a tight race for the state.

Below are four takeaways from Vance’s remarks at Cordes Inc. in Byron Center:

Michigan, a “red wall” state

For 20 years, Michigan has always been won by a Democratic presidential candidate, from President Bill Clinton in 1992 to President Barack Obama in 2012.

Voting history put Michigan in a collection of states described by pundits as a “blue wall,” a block of reliable victories for Democrats. That was until Trump won the state in 2016. Biden won the state in 2020.

Vance said he believes Michigan will be a reliable win for Republican presidential candidates.

“People used to call it a ‘blue wall’ state,” he said. “I think Michigan is now a ‘red wall’ state because people are fed up with losing their livelihoods and their jobs and they know Donald J. Trump is going to be good for both.”

Michigan’s governor, attorney general and secretary of state are all Democrats, and the state House and Senate have Democratic majorities.

Vance spoke of how a “generation of failed leadership” saw “thousands of manufacturing jobs disappear,” wiping out the state’s post-World War II prosperity, where a person could build a middle-class life as long as they worked hard.

“There is no state that perfectly exemplifies what is wrong with American politics in Washington,” he said of Michigan.

Questions from the press

After about 25 minutes of remarks, Vance took questions from reporters.

It was a contrast with Harris, who has not held a news conference since President Joe Biden dropped out of the race and endorsed her on July 21.

And Vance pounced on that.

“You have to stand before the American people and answer tough questions if you want to do this job,” he said. “And it’s outrageous that Kamala Harris is running from the media, but more importantly, she’s running from the American people. That’s a disgrace.”

“I have never seen a presidential campaign in my lifetime where a person is running for president of the United States but is afraid of you.”

He went on to say that some of the journalists present were “perfectly fine,” but others were “fake news.”

Harris spokesman Michael Tyler told CNN on Wednesday Harris has been very busy with the campaign and added that they will be holding press conferences at some point.

That response came after CNN anchor Jim Acosta asked Tyler: “Would it be hard for them to have a press conference? Why hasn’t she had a press conference?”

Deportations on the first day

Vance reiterated a promise Trump made when he visited Grand Rapids earlier this year, saying he would carry out the “largest internal deportation operation in the history of our country” on day one of his presidency.

“Kamala Harris turned Border Patrol into a travel agency for violent criminals and freeloaders from around the world,” Vance said. “Now, President Trump and I have a different message: If you are in this country illegally, start packing your bags because Donald Trump is going to send you back home and he will do it on day one.”

During his remarks, Vance said undocumented immigrants are undermining American wages, increasing inflation and making communities less safe. He claimed Democrats were trying to give them the right to vote.

“False optimism”

The presidential campaigns of Trump and Harris have often contrasted in tone, with pundits saying Trump paints a grim picture of the current state of the United States and Harris a message of cheer.

But Vance said that message of joy, along with “everything about his campaign,” is disingenuous, from the way he won the top spot on the Democratic ticket when Biden dropped out of the race to the “fake dances” he does at rallies.

“Donald J. Trump’s campaign offers something very, very different,” he said. “It’s not false optimism, but it’s very real hope — hope and a vision to see that hope become a reality in this country once again.”

One of Harris’ campaign slogans has been “we’re not going back,” a reference to Trump’s presidency. It’s something the crowd of thousands chanted during Harris’ rally last week at Detroit Metropolitan Airport.

Vance refuted that the United States has been going backwards during his term in office under Biden.

“We’ve been coming back to a place where Americans are not kings in their own country, but paupers begging their government for precious scraps of security and food,” he said. “We’re coming back, Kamala Harris, for you, and we’re going to send you off because we want to move this country forward.”