EAU CLAIRE, Wis. — Republican Sen. JD Vance of Ohio, former President Donald Trump's 2024 running mate, hustled from Michigan to Wisconsin Wednesday morning to speak to supporters in Eau Claire.
Vance announced his event after Vice President Kamala Harris said last week she would campaign there with her running mate, revealed Tuesday as Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz.
The events were set up just down the road from each other in an attempt to appeal to crucial swing-state voters.
KARE 11 had crews at both events Wednesday afternoon, including reporter Jennifer Hoff, who said on X that vice presidential hopeful Vance would speak at an aviation equipment manufacturer, Wollard International, before taking questions from the press.
Vance entered the building with his wife Usha at his side, about 30 minutes after he was scheduled to speak. He then shook hands with factory employees before stepping up to the mic and beginning his remarks.
"First I want to say how great it is to be in Eau Claire, Wisconsin," he said from the podium that was outfitted with a Trump-Vance campaign sign.
"We've had a good day. We actually just saw the vice president's plane on the tarmac — we landed about the same time that she did — and I went over there because I thought it might be nice to check out this plane that's gonna be mine in a few months if we all take care of business," Vance added, earning some laughs from the crowd.
Jokes aside, Vance didn't waste much time before attacking journalists, Harris and her newly announced running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz.
Vance came out swinging, alleging Harris "refuses to take a single question from the American media," while claiming "it's well-known" he and former President Trump will "go anywhere and will answer any question."
"I think it's a scandal," he said about his claims about Harris.
Vance went on to address topics like manufacturing and low-cost power, calling Eau Claire the "Saudi Arabia of natural gas in this country," saying Harris "would rather get energy from tinpot dictators in Iran and Russia than from American citizens."
Later in his remarks, Vance told the crowd Trump's official stance on energy is "drill, baby, drill!" in an effort to drive down energy costs not only for manufacturers but also for American families.
Vance then hit the vice president on border security, blaming the "Harris administration" for the "terrible crisis" at the southern border.
Turning to the economy, Vance said the most consistent complaint he hears as he travels across the country, is that it's "getting harder and harder for normal people to get by." Again, he blamed Harris and her "economic policies" for further exacerbating the issue.
"I think we oughtta say to Kamala Harris, 'You are fired. Your policies didn't work, your agenda doesn't work and it's not what the American people want."
When taking questions from the press, Vance touched on topics like the effort to preserve rural healthcare systems ("We need to invest."); his vision for a free and fair election ("Everything has to be safe and secure."); and his response to allegations by Walz that Vance and others in the Republican Party are "weird" (I'm a normal guy who wants to live the American dream.")
"I think it's very simple; I think that we can do better. I know that we can do better. We were doing better when Donald J. Trump was president."
Vance went on to agree to debate Harris, specifically referencing a date of Aug. 13, which Harris had already tentatively scheduled with Vance before President Joe Biden exited the race.
"Here's my offer to Kamala Harris: If she'd like to do a debate with me on Aug. 13, I'll do it."
The Republican VP hopeful also defended Trump's stance on the controversial Project 2025, saying, "No one speaks for Trump but Trump."
Hoff went on to ask Vance, "What is your winning message?"
Vance replied, "President Trump and I's vision for the future is that if you work hard and play by the rules — whether you went to college, whether you went to law school, or whether you just graduated from high school — you can go and work in a job that's proud, that's meaningful, that pays you a good wage and allows you to start a family."
Perhaps most importantly to the region, a reporter asked the age-old question, "Why would someone want to have a beer with you?"
Vance replied, "I guess they'd wanna have a beer with me because I actually do like to drink beer. I probably like to drink beer a little bit too much."