3 highlights from Sen. JD Vance's Arizona event – Deseret News

With just 14 days until Election Day, former President Donald Trump is wooing voters in the swing state of North Carolina, while his vice presidential candidate, Senator JD Vance, traveled to the two battleground states to the west – Arizona and Nevada.

Vance spoke for about 20 minutes to a crowd at TYR Tactical in Peoria, Arizona, where he touted the Trump administration's success in securing the southern border and creating a thriving economy.

He also encouraged voters to keep the momentum going, saying, “We wake up on the sixth of November and Kamala Harris is elected President of the United States by just under 700 votes in the state of Arizona.” Think about it and ask yourself “What you can do from now until then to make sure something like this doesn’t happen.”

Polls show Arizona is a contested state in this presidential election and the result is expected to be razor-thin. Both campaigns recognize this vulnerability and have consistently engaged on the ground to engage and energize voters.

This week is no different; The Grand Canyon State expects visits from Trump and vice presidential candidate Gov. Tim Walz, as well as President Joe Biden, former President Bill Clinton and Donald Trump Jr.

At Tuesday's event, Vance jokingly said he wanted everyone to vote for Trump 10 times. “Now I know, I know, we’re Republicans. We only vote once. … We're doing it the legal way,” he said, before instructing participants to take people they know to the polls.

Vance focuses on economics and everyday problems

Vance pointed the finger at Harris for casting the tie-breaking vote on “trillions of dollars in new spending” in her role as Senate president.

“Arizona residents are paying $1,000 more a month to buy what they could have bought when Donald Trump was president,” Vance said, before calling Harris “one of the worst housing crises we’ve ever seen in this state.” “have seen” blamed.

“When she stands before the American people and says, 'On day one we will address the affordability crisis' or 'On day one we will secure the southern border,' our response to Kamala Harris is 'Day one was 1,400 days ago, Kamala “What the hell have you been doing all this time?” Vance said.

The Ohio senator said Americans – particularly seniors, who have been hit hardest by higher inflation – will see lower grocery bills and home prices if Trump is re-elected.

“We will return to an affordable American nation,” Vance said.

Vance sets the record straight for Medicare

The Republican vice presidential nominee also focused on the Harris campaign's claim that Trump wants to cut Social Security and Medicare. He said the former president plans to “protect” those benefits, but the Trump-Vance ticket only wants to “ensure that those benefits go to the people who paid for them and not to illegal immigrants.”

He also introduced Trump's proposal to eliminate taxes on Social Security checks to help seniors.

In a statement before Vance's visit, a spokesman for the Harris-Walz campaign cited a nonpartisan report from the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget. It says Social Security will expire in six years, about three years earlier than planned, if Trump's policies are implemented. The measures include implementing a mass deportation law and codifying the 2017 Trump-era tax cuts.

“Arizona residents are looking for leaders who will advocate for their families – not sell them out,” the statement continued.

A secure border or an open border – which is more compassionate?

Vance recalled Walz saying at the vice presidential debate earlier this month that she wanted to be “compassionate” toward immigrants.

“Look, I don’t agree with this,” Vance said. “But our compassion as American leaders goes first and foremost to American citizens and people who have the legal right to be here.”

He argued that the Biden-Harris policy is the opposite of compassion because it allows Mexican cartels to profit from human and drug trafficking.

“We are a compassionate people, so we want to secure the damn border and the only way we can do that is if we elect Donald J. Trump,” Vance said. He also highlighted Trump's plan to deport migrants who arrived illegally.

Vance is expected to speak in Tucson later Tuesday. The next day he will travel to Reno, Nevada, where he will tout Trump's “no tax on tips” policy.