Vance delivers Trump campaign’s energetic economic message in Raleigh

RALEIGH — Former President Donald Trump’s running mate, Sen. J.D. Vance of Ohio, delivered a speech Wednesday at a campaign rally at Union Station in Raleigh.

NCGOP Chairman Jason Simmons opened the event by urging everyone to vote in November. As Vance took the stage, he gave shout-outs to Republican congressional candidates including House Speaker Tim Moore, who is running for the 10th District seat, Addison McDowell (6th), Pat Harrington (10th) and Brad Knott (13th), as well as Hal Weatherman, the Republican candidate for lieutenant governor.

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Vance began her remarks by criticizing Vice President Kamala Harris for her lack of media interviews, suggesting that she was hiding from the press.

“We all know she’s hiding from the fact that she’s a dangerous, liberal from San Francisco who’s now pretending to be a moderate,” Vance said. “But the record, ladies and gentlemen, speaks for itself, right? We know exactly who Kamala Harris is because that’s the way she’s governed for the last 3½ years.”

Vance also criticized Harris for telling stories about herself, such as her upbringing in a middle-class family and her work at McDonald’s, instead of answering direct questions.

“We don’t care, Kamala Harris, how much you want to talk about yourself,” Vance said. “We want to understand how you’re going to solve the problems for the American people, the problems that your policies are causing.”

Later in his remarks, he asked, “How is she going to sit in a room with Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping? How is she going to sit in a room with America’s opponents if she won’t even sit down for a friendly media interview?”

He also criticized Harris for “tightening regulations on American energy” and “refusing to do anything that would actually allow our great American energy producers to do their jobs, lower prices and make our country less safe.”

“As President Trump says, all we have to do is ‘drill, baby drill,’ and that will do more for American prosperity than anything else,” Vance added, before describing how energy and fuel costs are driving higher prices for consumer goods and groceries.

The Ohio senator then turned to the economy, telling attendees that inflation in the Tarheel State had risen 22% under Harris.

“That means the average family in North Carolina is spending about $12,000 more a year,” Vance said. “$12,000 more a year, about a thousand dollars more a month, just to be able to pay now what they could pay three years ago. How does that even make sense?”

Vance added that gas prices “are 30% higher today than they were when Kamala Harris took office” and that housing prices were completely unaffordable for young Americans.

“I believe we are a country that is wealthy enough and prosperous enough that no American family should have to wonder if they can afford to turn on the heat in the middle of a cold winter night,” Vance said, recalling how “times were really tight” and how his family had to make that choice.

Vance criticized Harris for her changes in position, saying she is “practically just pushing a Trump agenda at this point.”

Crime and illegal immigration were also discussed in Vance’s speech to the hundreds of supporters in attendance.

“There are a lot of Democrats who are celebrating now that they cut rates by half a percent, but rates are up about 6 percent because of Kamala Harris’ policies,” Vance said. “That’s No. 1 why housing prices are so high. The second reason housing prices are so high is because we’re letting in 25 million illegal aliens to compete with Americans for scarce housing.”

He cited cities where large numbers of migrants have settled, outstripping urban resources and housing, saying: “They will call you a racist if you dare to complain about it, and I find that the most outrageous thing.

“Our message to the illegal aliens who have come to this country and who have driven up the cost of housing, who have made it more expensive for Americans to live a good life, to the drug cartels who have brought pounds and pounds, tons and tons of fentanyl into this country — our message is simple: In six months, pack your bags, because you’re going home.”

Unlike usual campaign rallies, Vance answered questions from the media live after his speech.

North State Journal asked Vance to elaborate on his comments about energy independence and what Trump’s plan meant for North Carolinians.

“There are a couple of different things we need to do,” Vance responded. “No. 1, the Harris campaign, the Harris vice presidency, has put in place a number of power plant regulations that are completely nonsensical and are raising energy costs for North Carolina consumers.

“The second thing is we have a lot of natural gas capacity all over our country. We don’t have the pipelines to get this stuff where it needs to be. And Kamala Harris needs to stop closing pipelines. We need to open pipelines, lower the cost for American consumers and everybody.”

Vance also linked energy production and costs to food prices, but he also noted the increased costs farmers bear because fertilizers often come from natural gas. Vance said it creates a “very serious crisis” for the country because it becomes a net importer of food and that other countries controlling our food supply is a “national security problem.”

“The first full year that we became a country where we eat more than we grow — 2023, under the Kamala Harris administration,” Vance said. “So it’s bad for our farmers. It’s bad for everybody who goes to the grocery store, but it’s a huge national security problem.”

The Republican vice presidential candidate’s visit to Raleigh is the final stop for both campaigns in North Carolina, a swing state that both Trump and Harris are interested in.

The latest Gallup Poll shows Trump ahead of Harris in approval ratings, 46% to 44%, respectively. That’s a three-point drop for Harris and a four-point gain for Trump compared to their August approval ratings. The candidates are nearly tied in unfavorable approval ratings in the Sept. 3-15 Gallup poll, with Trump at 53% and Harris at 54%.