JD Vance lashes out at Kamala Harris at first campaign rally

Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance held his first solo campaign rally a day after the White House race took a sharp turn when President Joe Biden dropped out.

The Ohio senator held a rally Monday at his former high school in his hometown of Middleton, where he spoke of his local ties, praised his running mate Donald Trump and lashed out at Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris, who now has the support of more than half the delegates needed to win her party’s presidential nomination, according to an Associated Press poll.

“I was told I was going to debate Kamala Harris and now President Trump is going to debate her,” Vance said with a laugh. “I’m a little upset about that, to be honest.”

Vance sought to deflect criticism that Trump, who has refused to accept his 2020 loss to Biden and attempted to overturn the results, is a threat to democracy. The senator said the real threat came from the push by “elite Democrats” who “decided to jettison Joe Biden” and then have the party line up behind a replacement without a primary.

Vance also appeared to question Harris’s patriotism, noting that when she gives a speech, “she speaks about the history of this country not with appreciation, but with condemnation.”

“Not everything is perfect. It never will be. But if you want to lead this country, you should be grateful for it. You should be grateful. And I never hear that gratitude when I listen to Kamala Harris,” he added.

Vance did not offer any examples to support his statement.

The line of attack against Harris was reminiscent of criticism of former first lady Michelle Obama, who said during her husband Barack Obama’s 2008 presidential primaries that it was the first time she felt truly proud of her country. Conservatives seized on the comment to slam her as unpatriotic. She said the comment had been taken out of context and was referring to the election results, not the country itself.

Applause for Vance from the crowd of about 900 was more subdued than at the raucous rallies Trump typically holds, though the senator did get a strong response when he endorsed Trump’s “America First” policies.

Vance had planned an evening event in Radford, Virginia.

Trump’s campaign intends to use Vance, who became the Republican vice presidential nominee last week, in the Rust Belt states, the industrial belt of the country that is seen as critical to Democrats’ path to the White House. That includes Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, and places where the senator’s blue-collar roots and populist views are expected to resonate.

Middletown, located between Cincinnati and Dayton, is considered part of the Rust Belt and allowed Vance to draw on his personal history, which he laid out in his autobiography “Hillbilly Elegy.” It also gave his campaign a chance to make a new connection in a state that used to swing politically but has lately been leaning more Republican.

Vance mentioned his heritage in his speech, referring to his grandmother as “mamaw” and joking, “Many of you know my family history. In fact, many of you are my family,” prompting laughter from the audience.

While Republicans pushed a message of unity last week and condemned incendiary language in the wake of the Trump assassination, one of the first speakers to introduce Vance at the rally suggested the country might have to descend into civil war if Trump loses in November.

“I believe with all my heart that Donald Trump and J.D. Vance of Butler County are the last chance to save our country,” said Republican state Sen. George Lang. “Politically, I fear that if we lose this, it’s going to take a civil war to save the country, and it will be saved.”