Sen. JD Vance (R-OH), Donald Trump’s running mate on the Republican presidential ticket, told Breitbart News exclusively on Thursday that Democrats cannot appeal to working-class voters with superficial gestures like the camouflage hats promoted by Vice President Kamala Harris and her running mate Tim Walz.
“The Democrats reveal how little they know about working people in this country because all of their changes are stylistic and there is nothing substantive,” Vance told Breitbart News. “Their solution to losing working class voters, to losing rural voters, to losing veterans is to sell camo hats with Kamala Harris’s and Tim Walz’s name on them. I think if they really want to reach out to veterans they might have selected somebody who didn’t lie about their military service record before running on the Democratic ticket.
“If they want to reach out to working class Americans, they could do things that protect our manufacturing jobs from theft by the Chinese. They could pursue energy policies that drive down the cost of manufacturing and drive down the cost of energy for American workers. Instead, they’re trying to do this stylistic rebrand where they wear camo hats but it’s the same old policies of the Democratic Party that have been very, very bad for working people for a generation,” Vance continued.
Vance argued that the policies promoted by Harris and Walz would be detrimental to working-class Americans. He pointed out that Harris, in her acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention, opposed tariffs on key imports, which he believes would harm American workers. Additionally, both Harris and Walz have expressed support for increasing the importation of migrants, a move Vance contends would compete with U.S. workers for jobs.
Harris’s stance on fracking also raised concerns, as she has previously supported a ban on the practice. Although an anonymous Harris campaign aide suggested a change in her position, Harris has not publicly confirmed this or provided further details. Vance criticized her support for electric vehicle production, arguing that it benefits China at the expense of American auto workers and undermines U.S. energy production, leading to higher prices, Breitbart News reported.
Vance also addressed Walz’s attack on him during his DNC speech last Wednesday, which criticized Vance for attending Yale Law School. Vance, whose personal journey from poverty in Appalachia to high-level U.S. politics is often cited as a testament to the American dream, found Walz’s criticism particularly hypocritical. The Ohio senator also noted that many of those speaking at the DNC, including Walz, are themselves alumni of Yale and other Ivy League institutions, making the attack on his own educational background seem deeply ironic.
“It’s funny — Tim Walz is surrounded by a bunch of people who went to Yale and a bunch of people born with silver spoons in their mouths,” Vance told Breitbart News. “And he wants to attack me for getting an education. I’m not ashamed for being able to live the American dream. I mostly see it as a testament to the sacrifice of my grandmother and the people who raised me and made me who I was. I don’t think we should make people feel ashamed for sacrificing for their kids and their grandkids. If Tim Walz wants to attack my education story, he’s more than welcome to attack it.”
“My question for Tim Walz is why is the person you’re running with, Kamala Harris, supporting policies that make it harder for American children to live the American dream and make it harder for American parents to afford groceries and health care?” Vance said. “That’s the actual conversation we should be having in this country. What’s going on politically I think is they must have seen something in some polling or something, or some focus group that if he can attack me as some out-of-touch elitist it’s somehow going to trick people into forgetting that Kamala Harris has been horrible for working-class Americans.
“It’s the working class that suffers when you import 20 million illegal aliens and undercut their wages. It’s the working class that suffers when you flood their communities with fentanyl. That’s what I’m focused about, not some stupid quip from Tim Walz,” he noted further.
Disclaimer: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author’s opinion.