JD Vance Holds First Solo Rally in North Carolina

RALEIGH, N.C. — Republican vice presidential candidate J.D. Vance held his first solo rally in North Carolina on Wednesday, focusing on inflation, affordable housing and immigration.

With less than 50 days until Election Day and less than a month before early voters cast their ballots, the campaign is in full swing in the Tar Heel State.

It was just one of several rallies held over the past week, with both Democrats and Republicans battling it out for the state’s 16 electoral votes. Vice President Kamala Harris held a rally in Greensboro last week. Gov. Tim Walz, the Democratic vice presidential nominee, held a rally in Asheville on Tuesday, and former President Donald Trump will hold a rally in Wilmington on Saturday.

On Wednesday, Vance held a rescheduled rally from August at Union Station for his first visit to the state capital. Supporters packed the venue and lined the station for hours before the vice presidential candidate took the stage.

After his opening statement, Vance began speaking to the packed room about Harris’ policies toward U.S. energy production.

JD Vance holds first solo rally in North Carolina (Spectrum News 1/Sydney McCoy)

“When you wage war on American energy and you have a vice president who seems to hate her own energy producers, it’s not just bad for the people who produce American energy. And it doesn’t just raise costs for consumers. It certainly does. It empowers some of the worst people in the world, because they all get rich,” Vance said.

He said his and former President Donald Trump’s plan would be to “drill, baby, drill” and that they hope to bring more manufacturing and agriculture back to America.

“Our plan is very simple: produce more in the United States of America, grow more food in the United States of America, self-sustaining American jobs for American workers. That is the path to prosperity and also national security,” Vance said.

Other topics included illegal immigration, which he said has raised the prices of many things in the states, including taxes, and brought drugs and crime into the country.

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

Trump’s running mate also noted that many North Carolina families cannot afford the lifestyle they had three years ago, blaming the Biden administration.

“Housing prices, especially here in Raleigh and some of the larger cities, are completely unaffordable for young Americans. (It’s) 56 percent higher because of Kamala Harris’ policies. And I have three kids, and I think I speak for all parents and grandparents. We want our young families to be able to afford the American dream of home ownership,” Vance said.

Vance, who said he was living paycheck to paycheck at one point, did comment on the inflation report released hours before his speech, saying a half-percentage-point decline won’t help Americans.