U.S. Sen. J.D. Vance, R-Ohio, speaks at a rally in Flint, Mich., on Nov. 4, 2024. (Photo by Andrew Roth/Michigan Advance)
U.S. Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio) said during his final Michigan campaign stop before Tuesday’s election that the United States is “on the cusp” of a “golden age of American prosperity.”
Vance was speaking at the FIM Capitol Theatre in Flint, which reopened in 2017 following a $37 million restoration to save it from years of decay following the historic building’s closure in 1996.
“In hundreds of years, the people of the United States of America, they built places like this. I’m just overwhelmed by it,” Vance said. “For hundreds of years, Americans built beautiful buildings because we wanted our citizens and our people to be surrounded by a reminder that we have the capacity in the United States of America to do great things.”
But Vance said that right now, too many families are feeling the effects of higher costs.
“I know in the city of Flint and all over this great state, there are a lot of people who are working hard. They’re playing by the rules, and they’re falling further behind instead of getting further ahead,” Vance said.
Vance said he met a family during a previous campaign stop in Michigan who told him that they had to end their tradition of having “steak night” once a week due to increasing costs of groceries.
“I thought what a tragedy it was that our fellow citizens are canceling these little family rituals, the things that make life worth living, because Kamala Harris has failed to do her job,” Vance said.
Former state Sen. Tom Barrett, the Republican nominee for Congress in Michigan’s 7th Congressional District, said that rising costs make it more difficult to get ahead on a working class budget.
“I’m old enough to remember when in America, if you worked hard, you had a little bit of money left over at the end of the month,” said Barrett, who is facing former state Sen. Curtis Hertel (D-East Lansing). “Today, no matter what you do, you have too much month left at the end of your money.”
While Barrett’s district does not include Flint, Paul Junge, the Republican nominee for Congress in the 8th Congressional District, also spoke at the rally. Junge is squaring off against state Sen. Kristen McDonald Rivet (D-Bay City).
Barrett said that of the 435 seats in the U.S. House nationwide, “two of them, connected together side by side, represent the two most competitive races in the entire country this year.”
Vance criticized President Joe Biden for comments he made in which he appeared to call supporters of former President Donald Trump “garbage” after Tony Hinchcliffe used the descriptor about Puerto Rico at a rally Trump held at Madison Square Garden.
Biden later clarified that he only meant that Hinchcliffe’s rhetoric was garbage.
“In my entire life, I’ve never seen a political candidate go out and attack millions upon millions of Americans for disagreeing with Kamala Harris,” Vance said. “We don’t need to attack our fellow citizens just because they have the wrong politics. I’m sure every single person in this auditorium knows somebody who’s going to vote the wrong way tomorrow.”
“Here’s our simple message to Kamala Harris: No, our fellow citizens are not garbage for thinking that you’re doing a terrible job,” Vance said. “But tomorrow, the state of Michigan is going to take out the trash in Washington, D.C.”
U.S. Rep. Lisa McClain (R-Bruce Twp.), did a callback to 2016 comments from former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
“I am not a ‘deplorable.’ I am not a piece of garbage,” McClain said. “And I can assure you, I am not a dumb, weak woman.”
“What happened to Kamala’s campaign of joy? Where did that go? I can’t find it, and neither can she,” McClain said, mispronouncing Harris’ name.
While in the Vehicle City, Vance took the opportunity to speak about Michigan’s auto industry.
“Where Kamala Harris wants to destroy the Michigan auto industry with this electric vehicle mandate, you know what Donald J. Trump believes? He believes you ought to be able to drive whatever the hell car you want to, because this is America, and we believe in freedom,” Vance said. “And we believe that when Americans are free to choose to drive whatever car they want to, they’re going to choose great Michigan made automobiles, because they’re the best vehicles in the world.”
Harris said during a Flint rally of her own in October that she would not support an electric vehicle mandate.
“Let us be clear: Contrary to what my opponent is suggesting, I will never tell you what kind of car you have to drive,” Harris said.
Vance, who’s speech mostly focused on criticizing Harris, said that the Democratic vice president is too focused on what she’s against rather than what she’s for.
“Here’s the biggest problem with Kamala Harris. It’s not just that we disagree with her on policy, it’s that Kamala Harris has decided instead of saying what she’s going to do to make your lives better, she’s more focused on dishonest smears against Donald J. Trump or, more importantly, dishonest smears against the American people,” Vance said.
Harris, in her final Michigan rally on Sunday night at Michigan State University, did not mention Trump by name at all, with her campaign saying she wanted to focus on a positive closing message.
“From the very start, our campaign has not been about being against something, it is about being for something,” Harris said. “A fight for a future with freedom, opportunity and dignity for all Americans. And so, in these final hours, let us remember that there is power in knowing that we are together.”
The Democratic nominee for vice president, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, is also campaigning in Michigan on Monday, holding a rally in Detroit with Jon Bon Jovi.
But Republican U.S. Senate nominee Mike Rogers, who is running against U.S. Rep. Elissa Slotkin (D-Holly), told supporters in Flint not to worry about Bon Jovi’s support does not matter.
“And don’t be discouraged that they’re bringing Bon Jovi in to Detroit,” Rogers said. “Oh yeah, they got Bon Jovi. You know what we got? We got autoworkers. That’s what we got.”
Trump also is expected to close out his campaign in Michigan on Monday, continuing a tradition established in 2016 and 2020 of holding his final rally in Grand Rapids.
While Trump is scheduled to speak at 10:30 pm, Pete Hoekstra, the chair of the Michigan GOP, said that if history is any indication he will likely speak after midnight — technically making it Election Day.
“It shows you the kind of energy and the commitment that he has put in to winning this race,” Hoekstra said.
Vance argued that energy is unmatched by Democrats.
“It’s funny to compare and contrast the record and the campaign stretch of Kamala Harris versus Donald J. Trump,” Vance said. “And it’s interesting, for all the media lies about Donald J. Trump and for all of the Kamala Harris dishonesty about my running mate, I think that we’ve got one person in this race who’s got the energy to be president of the United States, and it is the guy who’s barnstorming the country, that’s Donald J. Trump.”
Harris has held 22 campaign events throughout Michigan since becoming the Democratic candidate for president, while Trump will have held 16 including Monday night’s event.
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