JD Vance's final pitch to Arizona voters ties economic woes to illegal immigration
Visiting Arizona just days before Election Day, Sen. JD Vance revved up a crowd in Scottsdale by arguing that Vice President Kamala Harris has prioritized illegal immigrants over American citizens.
Vance, a senator from Ohio and the Republican nominee for vice president, ticked through a list of economic woes facing Americans and, using at times exaggerated or unclear claims, tied each problem to President Joe Biden and Harris' record on illegal immigration.
“Compassion, for the American president, has to start with the American people, and the people who have the legal right to be here,” Vance told hundreds of supporters at Dillon Precision, a guns and ammunition storefront in Scottsdale.
Former President Donald Trump and Harris are locked in fierce competition in Arizona, one of the few swing states in this year's presidential election on Nov. 5. Polls show Trump slightly ahead in Arizona though the race is expected to be close.
Both campaigns have sent surrogates through Arizona as the race stretches into its final days. On Thursday, both Harris and Trump held rallies in Arizona, drawing thousands of supporters each.
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, the Democratic vice presidential nominee, also came to Arizona on Saturday to campaign in Flagstaff and Tucson. He questioned Trump's ability to deliver for working people.
"What in the hell does a billionaire know about hardship?" Walz said Saturday in Flagstaff.
The trip marks Vance’s second week in a row campaigning in Arizona. Vance was most recently in the state last month for a rally in Peoria.
Vance blames economic woes on immigration
Much of Vance’s half-hour-long speech in Scottsdale focused on tying Americans’ economic woes to illegal immigration.
“The costs of this border crisis to the state of Arizona are unbelievable,” Vance said.
When it comes to housing, Vance said, “No matter how many homes we build, if we have a president like Kamala Harris, who gives American homes to illegal aliens instead of American citizens, we are never going to make the American Dream of homeownership affordable.”
It's unclear what program exactly Vance was referring to. Harris has announced a plan to provide $25,000 for first-generation homebuyers, which Vance has in the past misleadingly portrayed as a handout to illegal immigrants. A press aide for the Trump campaign didn’t immediately respond to a request for clarification.
As he’s done before in Arizona, Vance painted a picture of school systems overwhelmed by an influx of non-English speaking students.
“What does it do to the education of an American child when you drop thousands of kids into their school system that don’t speak English?”
The mounting toll of the country’s fentanyl crisis, and the cost of immigration enforcement, add to the economic toll, he said.
Speakers swat down 'fascist' allegations against Trump
Donald Trump Jr., the former president’s son, helped introduce Vance.
He defended a remark his father made in Phoenix earlier this week that evoked a threatening image of former Rep. Liz Cheney.
Speaking of the Republican former member of Congress from Wyoming, who is a frequent critic, Trump said, “She's a radical war hawk. Let's put her with a rifle standing there with nine barrels shooting at her. OK? Let’s see how she feels about it. You know, when the guns are trained on her face.”
Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes said Friday she was investigating the comments as a potentially prosecutable threat.
Trump Jr. pointed to the investigation as a sign that Democrats and the media have misinterpreted or overreacted to his father’s remarks.
“It’s, at this point, full-on propaganda,” he said. “You have the power to change all of that.”
Vance also pushed back on Harris’ description of Trump as a “fascist.”
“We are not bad people for loving this country enough to think that Kamala Harris ought to do a better job,” he said.
Lake echoes Trump’s promise to punish news outlets
Republican Senate candidate Kari Lake was one of the warmup speakers. She accused the mainstream media of peddling “fake news” — a common campaign trail theme for Lake — and echoed Trump’s calls to punish certain broadcast networks through the Federal Communications Commission, an independent regulatory agency.
“We’re gonna take a long, hard look at the FCC licenses that these people have,” she said. “We give them those licenses and they lie to us.”
Charlie Kirk, a conservative activist and founder of the group Turning Point USA, promoted his organization’s get-out-the-vote effort and touted the Republican Party’s growing voter registration advantage in Arizona. He encouraged people to rally their friends and neighbors behind Trump.
“He took a bullet for you. Now go get ballots in the box for him,” Kirk said.
Arizona Republic reporter Stephanie Murray contributed to this report.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: JD Vance ties economic woes to illegal immigration in Arizona
