JD Vance touts drilling, Trump economic policy in Pittsburgh
Ohio Sen. JD Vance, the Republican nominee for vice president, held a campaign rally in downtown Pittsburgh Thursday afternoon.
During his roughly 50-minute address to voters at The Pennsylvanian, Vance touted Donald Trump's economic policies and criticized the record of Vice President Kamala Harris.
"We've got, it's hard to believe, 19 days to go, 19 days to work, 19 days to knock on doors, 19 days to make phone calls, 19 days to get our friends to the polls to vote and 19 days until we get to say to Kamala Harris, 'You are fired, go back to San Francisco where you belong,'" Vance said.
Supporters of the Trump/Vance ticket told Pittsburgh's Action News 4 that energy and the economy are top of mind this election.
"The Trump ticket will be a great boost to the economy and America, and we need that so badly here. America is failing as a country," Sal Re said.
"The most important single thing to America right now is the energy. It caused inflation. When we stop producing energy, now, people say, 'Well, we didn't stop.' We stopped pipelines," George Maier said.
"Drill, baby, drill. That will lower prices for all of us," Vance said.
Vance blamed Harris for pipeline work halted under President Joe Biden.
"She shut down the Keystone pipeline. Donald Trump is going to reopen that pipeline and open up American energy for all of our citizens," Vance said.
Vance also brought up Charleroi, Washington County , when speaking negatively about immigration.
"Of course, there's Charleroi, Pennsylvania, what's going on in Aurora, Colorado. We are seeing all across this country that criminal gangs, sometimes, are moving into our communities and making it unsafe for American citizens. And even if it's not criminal gangs, sometimes it's just people moving into our communities who have no legal right to be there in the first place," Vance said.
Charleroi Council President Kristin Hopkins-Calcek previously told Pittsburgh's Action News 4 that Charleroi should be looked at as an example of successful immigration, and regarding Haitian immigrants, she said the population is on "temporary protected status," which allows immigrants to legally live and work in the U.S.
Vance took questions from reporters at the end of his remarks. Pittsburgh's Action News 4 asked him how he reconciles Trump and other Republicans previously casting doubt on the integrity of mail-in voting when he and Trump both are now encouraging supporters to vote by mail.
"The people of Pennsylvania, through their elected legislature, through the governor, have changed how this works," Vance said. "And so, I'm not saying that I prefer mail-in voting; I'm saying that mail-in voting is now here, so let's deal with that reality and make sure that our voices count just as much as the other side."
Vance's stop in Pittsburgh was sandwiched between a visit by Gov. Tim Walz , the Democratic VP nominee, earlier this week, and a Trump rally scheduled for Saturday in Latrobe.
