Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance, a U.S. senator from Ohio, speaks during a press conference at the Shelby Township Police Department on Wednesday in Shelby, Mich.
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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.
Related: Who is J.D. Vance, the Republican nominee for vice president
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.”
Related: JD Vance went viral for ‘cat lady’ comments. The centuries-old trope has a long tail
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.
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