Philadelphia, Pennsylvania — Republican Sen. J.D. Vance of Ohio reacted to the “interesting tag team” of Vice President Kamala Harris and Democratic Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota after his long-awaited presidential nomination was announced in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on Tuesday.
“If you think back to the riots of the summer of 2020, Tim Walz is the guy who got rioters to burn down Minneapolis,” he said, referring to the riots that began in Minnesota following the death of George Floyd during an arrest in Minneapolis.
“And the person who released the rioters on bail was Kamala Harris,” he added. “So it’s an interesting team.”
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J.D. Vance criticized Kamala Harris’ choice of Tim Walz as her running mate. (Getty Images)
Harris has come under heavy criticism from Republicans for promoting the Minnesota Freedom Fund during the riots of the summer of 2020. Donations to the fund were reportedly used primarily to pay bail for people convicted of violent crimes, rather than the protesters it was intended to help.
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Speaking to supporters at a campaign event in South Philadelphia on Tuesday, Vance explained why he initially had a lukewarm reaction to Harris’ choice as vice presidential candidate.
“The reason I haven’t said much about Tim Walz is because it showed the Democrats were trying to fool us a little bit,” he said, referring to President Biden’s decision last month to drop out of the race after growing pressure from Democratic Party leaders.
“So I don’t know if we can really remove Tim Walz from the race. And I think a lot of us are saying to ourselves, ‘Well, it’s not going to be official until they actually nominate him at the Democratic Convention next week,'” he laughed.
“Tim Walz’s record is a joke. He is one of the most far-left extremists in the entire United States government, at any level,” he said.
“I think this shows that Kamala Harris is running as a San Francisco liberal. She’s governed as a San Francisco liberal and she’s picked a San Francisco-style liberal as her running mate,” Vance said.
Walz is the governor of Minnesota. (AP Photo/Carolyn Custer)
The Ohio senator was greeted by a warm crowd at Tuesday’s event, who at one point began chanting “JD! JD! JD!”
He invited several Pennsylvania voters to address the crowd, saying, “I think it’s important for Kamala Harris to humanize the disaster that has been caused and remind the American people why we need Donald J. Trump as President, because ordinary people will benefit if he becomes president of the United States.”
Speakers focused on the fentanyl crisis and how it has affected their lives and the lives of others in the Philadelphia area.
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Vance slammed Harris and Walz for their progressive politics. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)
“These are not racially profiled drugs,” said Geraldine Briggs, a young black woman in Philadelphia. “Rehab centers are proof that this crisis happens regardless of demographics, income or family history. It affects millions of people across the country.”
“Democrats claim they’ve cleaned up the streets of Philadelphia, but it hasn’t worked,” she said.
Vance said Harris’ running mate, Walz, “is not doing his job and refusing to make sure Americans have a good life, not just illegal immigrants, and is making the fentanyl crisis that we just heard about even worse.”
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The Republican senator also pinned the Biden administration’s record on Harris, saying, “There is a war in Europe. There is a war in the Middle East that is spinning out of control. The world’s financial markets are in turmoil. Everything Kamala Harris is involved in is a disaster. She should be removed from the United States government and she should not be promoted.”
Vance’s visit to Philadelphia comes hours before Harris holds her own event in Philadelphia with Waltz, the first time the two Democratic candidates have done so together. Former President Trump’s running mate is also accompanying Harris on a multi-day tour of battleground states.
The Harris campaign did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital for comment.
Fox News Digital’s Michael Lee and Audrey Conklin contributed to this report.
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