Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio) called Vice President Harris “the greatest threat to religious freedom we've seen in at least a generation” while campaigning in North Carolina and suggested the administration is an “enemy” of individual liberty.
“So let's take a quick look at some of the ways in which the Kamala Harris administration has been a primary opponent of freedom of conscience, freedom of speech and freedom of religion in this country,” Vance said at a “Believers and Votes” event in Charlotte.
“First, despite Kamala Harris saying she's on the side of the working class, and despite her running mate running mate running back stating that 'in America, people should take care of themselves,' both have pursued policies like firing people who refuse to get the COVID-19 vaccine,” he said.
The Biden administration issued a vaccination mandate for federal employees to curb the pandemic's death toll, and also considered imposing vaccination or testing requirements on private businesses with more than 100 employees, but the Supreme Court later largely blocked those mandates but upheld vaccination requirements for certain health care facilities.
Gov. Tim Walz (Democrat) has also enacted a policy in Minnesota requiring state employees to get vaccinated or get regular testing in 2021-2022.
Republicans have been highly critical of Democrats' COVID-19 response to the pandemic.
Vance's comments came just days after Donald Trump suggested that if Harris beat him in the November presidential election, “Jews would have a big role in the defeat.”
Vance has been campaigning in the state, and was at another event in Charlotte on Monday, which is seen as a must-win state for Republicans to put Trump back in the White House.
Complicating Republicans' path to victory in the Tar Heel State is GOP gubernatorial candidate Mark Robinson, especially after CNN reported last week that he made some eyebrow-raising comments in a messaging forum on a pornography site, including calling himself a “black Nazi.”
Decision Desk polls in North Carolina show Trump narrowly ahead of Harris, 48.4 percent to 47.8 percent.
