VALDOSTA, Ga. — Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio), former President Donald Trump’s running mate for the Republican presidential nomination, told Breitbart News in an exclusive interview Thursday that Democrats won’t win over working-class people with the kind of empty platitudes peddled by Vice President Kamala Harris and running mate Tim Walz.
“The Democrats are showing how little they know about workers in this country because all their reforms are tokenism and nothing of substance,” Vance told Breitbart News. “Their solution to losing working-class voters, rural voters, and veteran voters is to sell camo hats with Kamala Harris and Tim Walz’s names on them. If they really wanted to reach out to veterans, I think they could have picked someone who hadn’t lied about their military records before running for the Democratic nomination. If they wanted to reach out to working-class Americans, they could do things like protect manufacturing jobs from being stolen by the Chinese. They could pursue energy policies that lower manufacturing costs and lower energy costs for American workers. Instead, they’re trying to rebrand themselves as tokenism by wearing camo hats, but it’s the same old Democratic policies that have been so bad for workers for a generation.”
Ending the night. https://t.co/pgF98PaOLr pic.twitter.com/DwAQ4hoKkY
— Tim Walz (@Tim_Walz) August 7, 2024
As for the actual policies they are promoting, Vance said Harris and Walz would deal a devastating blow to working-class Americans. Shortly after this interview, Harris said in her acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention (DNC) that she opposes import tariffs on staple products, which she says weaken American workers, and both she and Walz have made it clear that they want to legislate the importation of millions of immigrants each year, which would take away jobs from American workers. She also supports a ban on fracking. An anonymous Harris campaign source said Harris has changed her position on this issue, but Harris herself has not confirmed this and has not provided any explanation for the matter. This would weaken American energy production and drive up prices. Harris has also consistently supported electric vehicle production, which will only benefit China and hurt American auto workers.
WATCH — Michigan Auto Workers: If Harris wins, ‘it’s the end of America’
During an interview with Breitbart News at the Lowndes County Sheriff’s Office where he was briefed on drug trafficking, Vance also responded to Waltz’s attack on him in his speech at the Democratic National Convention last Wednesday for attending Yale Law School. Vance’s personal story is, of course, a powerful one — he rose from poverty in Appalachia to reach the highest levels of U.S. politics — but Waltz’s attempt to smear Vance for living the American dream is a stark contrast to the way he has always lived it. Surrounded Some of the speakers at the Democratic National Convention went to Yale and other Ivy League schools, which is extremely hypocritical.
WATCH — MSNBC’s Wagner: Harris avoids “specifics” while trying to appease Democrats:
“It’s funny, because Tim Waltz is surrounded by a lot of people who went to Yale and came from wealthy families,” Vance told Breitbart News. “And he wants to attack my education. I’m not ashamed that I got to live the American Dream. I see it primarily as a testament to the sacrifices of my grandmother and the people who raised me and made me who I am. I don’t think you should be ashamed of the sacrifices you made for your children and grandchildren. If Tim Waltz wants to attack my education, go ahead and do it.”
Vance then slammed Walz for supporting a running mate who seeks to devastate the working class with illegal immigration, crime, drugs and economic policies that make food and health care more expensive.
Democratic presidential candidate Vice President Kamala Harris (right) and running mate Minnesota Governor Tim Walz attend a campaign rally in Las Vegas on Aug. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Julia Nickinson)
“My question to Tim Walz is, why is Kamala Harris, the woman you’re running with, supporting policies that make it harder for American children to live the American dream and harder for American parents to pay for groceries and health care,” Vance said. “That’s what we should be having in this country. What’s happening politically is that they must have realized in polls or whatever, or in focus groups, that if he could attack me as an elitist out of touch with reality, people would forget that Kamala Harris has been terrible to working class America. If you import 20 million illegal immigrants and drive down their wages, it’s the working class that suffers. If you flood working class communities with fentanyl, it’s the working class that suffers. That’s what I’m focusing on, not some stupid joke from Tim Walz.”
More details about Vance’s latest exclusive interview with Breitbart News will be released soon.
