Sen. J.D. Vance, R-Ohio, former President Trump’s vice presidential running mate, is scheduled to travel to the key battleground state of Arizona on Thursday and to visit the southern border.
According to information obtained by Fox News Digital, Vance will visit states important to the Trump campaign’s hopes of winning the election, as well as visit the border to address key concerns of campaign voters.
The border checks come as the Trump campaign pivots to counter Vice President Kamala Harris, who rose to the top of the list after President Biden decided to drop out of the race last week.
How long will Harris’ polling honeymoon last?
Senator J.D. Vance speaks at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on July 17, 2024. (Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
President Trump and Vice President Vance have made it a priority to highlight VP Harris’ role in identifying and trying to address the “root causes” of many of the administration’s unpopular policies, particularly illegal immigration at the southern U.S. border, which has led to VP Harris being referred to as the administration’s “border czar.”
Vance sought to highlight the issue the day after Biden’s decision, telling reporters that Harris’ emergence as the top Democratic candidate did not change the Trump campaign’s “political calculation.”
“We were running against Joe Biden’s open borders, Kamala Harris’ open borders. Kamala Harris was supporting the Green New Scam. Frankly, Kamala Harris was defending Joe Biden when it was clear that he had been mentally incompetent for a long time,” Vance said at the time.
Vice President Kamala Harris speaks at a campaign event at Westover High School in Fayetteville, North Carolina, on July 18, 2024. (Alison Joyce/AFP via Getty Images)
What the latest Fox News poll shows in key battleground states
Vance echoed similar sentiments during a meeting with donors in Minnesota on Monday, arguing that the campaign has a “unique opportunity” to highlight Harris’ record on the border now that she has emerged as the candidate.
Polls show immigration and border security remain top concerns for voters heading into the November election, though record illegal crossings over the past few years have been declining since peaking in December.
On April 12, 2024, an immigrant was arrested near the border wall in New Mexico. (Fox News)
What the latest Fox News poll shows in key battleground states
These concerns were highlighted in a Gallup poll released last week: 55% of American adults want to see immigration reduced, the first time in nearly two decades that Americans want to see immigration reduced, while 25% of respondents said they want immigration to remain at its current level and 16% said they want immigration to increase.
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