This week, both major political parties’ vice presidential candidates appeared in North Carolina as the campaigns fight for dominance in the battleground state.
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, Vice President Kamala Harris’ running mate, stopped in Atlanta and Macon, Georgia, Tuesday before ending the night in Asheville. Ohio Sen. JD Vance, former President Donald Trump’s vice presidential pick, visited Raleigh a day later.
Meanwhile, Harris made stops in Charlotte and Greensboro last Thursday and Trump is scheduled to campaign in Wilmington on Saturday.
Walz in Asheville
Walz, speaking to the “best rally crowd [he] had seen,” praised N.C. Gov. Roy Cooper for his “incredible leadership” and endorsed N.C. Attorney General Josh Stein in his gubernatorial campaign against N.C. Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson.
“Let’s just be honest — if you search [the] 330 million people [in America], you would not find a worse candidate than Mark Robinson,” Walz said.
He repeatedly criticized Robinson, Vance and Trump for their policies on issues like the economy, reproductive rights and gun regulation, promoting the Harris-Walz campaign platform as an alternative.
“Donald Trump has no plan for you. He has no plan to improve your life,” Walz said. “Kamala Harris [is] a very different story.”
Walz capitalized on the campaign’s pro-freedom messaging in his remarks.
“People live their lives differently, and we respect that. Worship the way you want to, love who you want to, take the job you want to,” he said. “… I might not choose the same thing you do. But the thing we say in Minnesota is … ‘mind your own damn business.’”
Vance in Raleigh
Vance spoke Wednesday at Raleigh’s Union Station, primarily using the time to attack Harris’ record on energy policy, immigration and the economy.
He accused Harris of “flood[ing] this country with cheap labor and people who are competing with [Americans] for homes.” Vance also claimed that she is “running on the Trump agenda,” adopting more moderate policies now to cover up her true identity as a “dangerous San Francisco liberal.”
Vance instead promoted Trump’s plan to “enforce the border and build the wall.”
He tied inflation and the rising cost of living to illegal immigration and asserted that the nation’s economy was stronger under Trump than President Joe Biden and Harris, pointing to “30% higher” gas prices and “56% higher” housing prices today than four years ago.
“In just 44 short days, we get to send a message to Kamala Harris and everybody else — you are fired,” Vance told supporters.
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Claire Cranford is a Trinity sophomore and features managing editor for the news department.