In return to Erie County, VP nominee Vance urges Trump voters to cast ballots early
Republican vice presidential nominee J.D. Vance said under Kamala Harris's "broken leadership" Americans are paying more for gas, groceries and to buy a home.
He blamed the Democratic presidential nominee for a "wide open" southern border, and said fentanyl is "flooding" communities and causing record overdose deaths.
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He joked that he felt bad for his Democratic counterpart, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, for "having the toughest job in American politics.
"He's got to go around and try to convince the American people that Kamala Harris could be the president of the United States," Vance said. "That's pretty tough."
Vance, the first-term Ohio senator and best-selling author, returned to Erie Saturday to address roughly 650 supporters of former President Donald Trump at the Erie Hall gymnasium on the campus of Penn State Behrend.
"In 10 days, my friends, in 10 days, we get an opportunity to do one thing, to tell Kamala Harris that we don't want her in the Oval Office," he said. "Go back to San Francisco where you belong."
'Golden age of American prosperity'
Harris and Walz, he contended, pretend like Harris has never met President Joe Biden, "like she's wearing garlic and he's a vampire." And Vance seemingly pretended Harris has been president, mocking her for what she says she'll do on her first day in office, and adding "Day One was 1,400 days ago. What the hell have you been doing?"
With Sen. Bernie Sanders stumping across town at Erie High for Vice President Kamala Harris, Vance delivered a 45-minute speech largely focused on immigration and the economy, including Trump's plan to eliminate taxes on tips and overtime.
Vance, 40, vowed that he and "the greatest president of [his] lifetime" would turn Erie County and Pennsylvania red again and that in a second Trump term there would be "a golden age of American prosperity."
Vance asked the crowd to visit a campaign website where they can check their voter registration status and polling location, request a mail or absentee ballot and learn ways to volunteer for the campaign in the final days of the race.
'Run to the finish line'
He asked people to "vote 10 times," which drew laughter.
"We're Republicans and we vote the legal way," Vance said, perpetuating false claims that Democrats stole the 2020 election. "So the way to vote legally 10 times is to take yourself to the polls and get nine your friends and family with you."
He also urged people to get on social media and tell people about his rally and why they are supporting the Trump-Vance ticket.
"Pennsylvania was decided by 1% of the vote last time around," he said. "It's always close. We know it's going be close. In fact, I worry a little bit that we're getting a little overconfident in Pennsylvania, which look, I'd rather be us than them, but we're only going to win if we run to the finish line."
Students react
Behrend freshmen Konnor O'Neil and Tyler Butler, both 19, attended the rally with several fellow classmates.
"I love Donald Trump and J.D. Vance more for the economic aspect," said O'Neil, a kinesiology major from Canonsburg, Pa. "I think that they're going to really help us recover from like inflation, gas prices and then obviously opening up fracking for Pennsylvania.
"It's really cool just getting to come to these," he added. "I know Trump was in Erie about a month ago, but I wasn't able to go to that one. I really like that they do it here and everyone can get involved."
Butler, a mechanical engineering major from Hanover, Pa., said he related to Vance when he told the audience how inflation was ruining some family traditions.
"A lot of these family rituals, they're what make life worth living, you know?" Butler said. "Nowadays with so many threats and difficulties in our daily lives, it's these little things we have to hold onto in order to stay focused on that truly matters."
August: Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance speaks at Team Hardinger in Erie
Democrats weigh in
Ahead of Vance's visit, the Harris for President campaign went on the attack:
“Voters across Erie remember how little J.D. Vance and Donald Trump care about working families — they’re out for themselves and their billionaire backers," Onotse Omoyeni, the Pennsylvania rapid response director for the campaign, said in a statement Friday evening. "We cannot afford Trump and Vance’s Project 2025 plan to raise costs for families by nearly $4,000 per year, gut overtime pay and slash Social Security, which is why voters across the commonwealth are excited to vote for the only candidate who will take us forward: Vice President Kamala Harris.”
A bellwether within a bellwether
It's Vance's second visit to Erie County in as many months. Vance addressed a crowd of 200 people on Aug. 28, at Team Hardinger, a warehousing and transportation company in the city of Erie. A month later, on Sept. 29, Trump rallied supporters in Erie at the Bayfront Convention Center.
Erie County is considered a "pivot" or "boomerang" county for supporting Democrat Barack Obama twice, then Trump, only to switch back to the Democratic nominee, President Joe Biden in 2020. Only 25 counties in the U.S. hold that designation. Pennsylvania is considered critical to winning the presidency and in 2020 it pushed Biden over the 270 Electoral College votes mark needed to win.
Sanders wasn't the only surrogate in town Saturday. West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice and his English bulldog named Babydog, which became a sensation as it sat next to Justice during his speech at the Republican National Convention in July, were scheduled to appear Saturday night at the Erie County Republican Party and Trump 47 headquarters in Millcreek Township.
August"" JD Vance meets owner, guests of an Erie market after campaign rally. What he ordered
Matthew Rink can be reached at [email protected] or on X at @ETNRink.
This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Vance to Erie supporters: tell Harris to go 'back to San Francisco'