VALDOSTA, Ga. — Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio), former President Donald Trump's vice presidential running mate, told Breitbart News exclusively that Vice President Kamala Harris and President Joe Biden's administration's “downward revision” of nearly 1 million jobs over the past year last month was the “worst” since just after the 2008 financial crisis.
“It's the worst downward revision in 15 years. You do the math and you see 2009 was it? When was 2009? The 2008 financial crisis changed the 2009 numbers,” Vance said in an interview with Breitbart News at the Lowndes County Sheriff's Office here in late August.
The Labor Department announced in late August that it was revising down its job numbers by 818,000 from the spring of 2023 to the spring of 2024. The big downward revision severely weakened the Democrats' message that Biden and Harris are the economic saviors, and some administration officials, including Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo in an interview at the Democratic National Convention, tried to dismiss the report as inconsequential.
But Vance said Democrats' messaging on the economy is a complete lie.
“They're actively lying. At least six weeks ago, that was the case. Remember, their argument was, 'Joe Biden's economy is really good, so we should re-elect Joe Biden,'” Vance told Breitbart News. “Now their argument is the economy is terrible and Kamala Harris is the change agent. Kamala Harris is not a change agent. She's been vice president for three and a half years. It's interesting how quickly they can switch from saying the economy is good to saying the economy is bad. It suggests they realize that their message that the economy is good isn't working.”
But Vance believes the public can spot misinformation coming from allies like Harris and Biden.
“Having to revise downwards the 900,000 jobs created last year shows that the American people don't believe these false statistics,” Vance said. “The American people believe what they see, and what they see is rising prices. It's getting harder to get a middle-class job and send your kids to a decent school. With Kamala Harris, all of this is going in the wrong direction, and that's why we must re-elect Donald Trump.”
Vance's comments came as Biden, fresh from a Delaware beach vacation, is due to join Harris for a campaign rally this Labor Day as he seeks to recalibrate his appeal to working- and middle-class voters.
