by Dana Gentry, Nevada Current
Former Pres. Donald Trump’s running mate, U.S. Sen. JD Vance, unleashed a litany of attacks Tuesday in Southern Nevada against Vice Pres. Kamala Harris, the Democratic Party’s likely presidential nominee.
Vance’s maiden visit to Nevada coincided with audio leaked to the Washington Post from one of Vance’s meetings this weekend with fundraisers, in which the candidate calls the Democratic Party’s switch from Biden to Harris “a political sucker punch. The bad news is that Kamala Harris does not have the same baggage as Joe Biden because whatever we might have to say, Kamala is a lot younger. And Kamala Harris is obviously not struggling in the same ways that Joe Biden did.”
Vance tried to flip that script in Henderson Tuesday.
“The entire world now knows that she (Harris) helped cover up Joe Biden’s declining mental capacity for years, and now our country is saddled with a president who can’t do the job,” Vance said Tuesday. “Our adversaries are licking their chops and the world is in disarray because of weak American leadership.”
With the exception of bringing Republican Senate candidate Sam Brown on stage, Vance’s 30-minute speech before a crowd of several hundred Republican faithful was heavy on red meat, but lacked any mention of Nevada issues, including Trump’s promise to stop taxing tips. His speech was also bereft of previous comments some have perceived as sexist.
Trump is defending his running mate, who is being criticized for his comments over the years on women and families. The former president, in a Fox News interview Monday, said Vance “loves families”.
“A lot has happened in the last month,” Vance said, without mentioning the outrage, even among some Republicans, over the surfacing of his “childless cat lady” remarks from 2021. He has attempted on several occasions to explain the comment but stands by his contention that Democratic leaders are not parents and are ill-equipped to lead as a result.
Vance has also suggested that parents with children be permitted to cast extra votes on behalf of their minor offspring.
“We’re going to say a word about the media. I know we have some friends in the media back there,” Vance said of reporters and camera operators in the back of the gym. “Not all of them are bad. Just most of them,” he said, echoing Trump, who Vance once characterized as “America’s Hitler.”
Vance promised that in six months, “President Trump will launch the largest deportation program in American history. We’re gonna end catch and release. We’re gonna ban sanctuary cities, and then we’re gonna finish building that beautiful Trump wall.”
He accused the Biden administration of handing out “work permits to 3 million illegal aliens who lied to claim asylum. They turn a blind eye while those fraudsters steal American jobs and undercut American wages,” adding Harris is “not going to stop until every illegal immigrant has the right to vote, which is going to destroy your voice in your own country to make room for people who shouldn’t even be here.”
Vance referred to Harris as Biden’s “border czar,” a position she never held.
Harris, in 2021, was given the job of addressing the root of migration from Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador. She has never been in charge of the border.
“I’ll ask you a simple question,” Vance said. “Do we want open borders? Do we want to bankrupt Medicare by giving it to illegal aliens? Do you want to defund the police? Do you want to ban fracking? So, do we want Kamala Harris? Hell, no!”
Harris, in 2017, was the first co-sponsor of Bernie Sanders’ Medicare for All Act. The bill would have abolished private health insurance and instead, the government-run benefit would have been available to every resident, including undocumented immigrants.
Border crossings, thanks to assistance from Mexico, have dropped in the last several months, with June crossings reaching the lowest point in three years.
However, Vance put “all illegal aliens” on notice. “President Trump and I have a different message. If you are here against the laws of this country, pack your bags, because you’re going home in six months.”
Vance promised the crowd he and Trump are going to “lead a great American restoration. We’re going to bring strength back. We’re going to bring common sense back. We’re going to bring prosperity back to the American people, and it’s starting in Nevada.”
A second rally was scheduled in Reno for Tuesday afternoon. Nevada is one of a handful of battleground states in the presidential election and is leaning Republican, according to pollsters.
Nevada Current is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Nevada Current maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Hugh Jackson for questions: [email protected]. Follow Nevada Current on Facebook and X.
