GREENSBORO, N.C. – With less than a month until Election Day, both the Trump and Harris campaigns are pulling out all the stops, including enlisting high-profile politicians and celebrities to join them on the stump in key battleground states.
Such was the case on Thursday, Oct. 10, when Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance was introduced by retired professional race car driver Danica Patrick. Patrick served as special guest moderator as Vance took questions from a crowd of about 2,500 supporters.
Patrick took the stage to a standing ovation before introducing Vance.
“I love my country,” Patrick said. “I want to fly an American flag. I want to help create unity, not division. That’s the kind of country I want to live in.” During the Q&A that followed, Patrick, 42, admitted that she has never voted before, but plans to this year.
Her first question to Vance was regarding his upbringing. Vance responded with a story about his grandmother, and the lessons he learned from her.
“To me, part of the American dream was to become a good husband and father,” Vance said. “One of the most important things she taught me was that no matter your circumstances, you cannot let yourself become a victim.”
Vance’s first question was from a first responder named Adam, who has been helping deliver supplies to people in Western North Carolina affected by Hurricane Helene.
“I’m tired,” Adam began. “For the last 14 days, we have been delivering supplies all over Western North Carolina. We’ve seen devastation and we’ve seen miracles. My fear is that when all this is over, our community will become a footnote. Will you and Donald Trump promise not to forget Western North Carolina?”
Vance responded by saying that this region and all the other areas affected by the hurricane will never be forgotten. Adam asked a follow-up question.
“When can we have a real conversation about overhauling disaster relief?” he said.
It was the opening Vance needed to begin his attacks on the Biden-Harris administration.
“As we begin to move from disaster relief to rebuilding, it is time to focus on the disastrous federal response to this disaster,” Vance said. “We should have sent the 82nd Airborne to Western North Carolina. Instead, we have a president at the beach and a vice president at a fundraiser. The problem is incompetence at the leadership level.”
The next question was from Jean, who asked about illegal immigration.
“I just read that we have 13,000 murderers who came across our border illegally. What is your plan to deport them?”
Vance, who uses this issue as the major talking point at most of his rallies, gave the answer Jean, and the rest of the audience, seemed to be waiting for.
“Send them home ASAP,” Vance said, and a loud ovation broke out. He then followed up with another condemnation of the Bidden-Harris administration for allowing this problem to occur, and to continue.
“A competent administration can deport people,” Vance said. “This administration has a policy to throw open the borders. There are millions of illegals here. They are not all criminals, some are good people, but that doesn’t mean they have the right to be here illegally. At this rate, we will never have a border.”
Patrick added that illegal immigration costs the government an estimated $150 billion per year. Vance said it was probably more, but neither gave any facts to support that estimate.
“There are illegals who collect benefits,” Vance continued. “There are multi-family houses, and each member gets section 8. Americans are getting evicted for illegal aliens, and they are driving up the cost of housing. We have 85 million illegals in public housing and public schools,” Vance said, as he continued to blame Harris.
“Kamala Harris let those kids in and deprived American kids of getting a good education,” he said.
The following questioner, Kaylee, is a hairdresser with her own business, who wants to buy a home and start a family, and asked Vance how a Trump-Vance administration could create opportunities for someone like her. Vance returned to his familiar line of attack – blaming Harris for the high cost of energy being the driving force behind higher prices for everything from gas to groceries.
“There is a phrase Donald Trump uses over and over – drill, baby, drill,” Vance said. “We need to unleash America’s energy reserves. We need a government that makes your life easier. Under Donald Trump, America can be energy independent within two years. We have energy resources the rest of the world envies. Kamala Harris’ plan is to buy it from tinpot dictators. If she became president, it would take us 10 years – and that’s if she only had one 4-year term – to dig out of energy dependence.”
The final question of the night came from Patricia, who asked if the Trump-Vance administration would protect social security. Vance assured her that they would.
“There will be no tax on tips, on overtime, and on social security,” Vance said.
To close out the event, Patrick threw Vance a softball, asking the Ohio senator if he were in the government, would he have done things differently. It was the opening Vance needed to criticize a recent interview where Harris stated that “nothing came to mind”, when asked if she would have done things differently than Joe Biden.
“She said nothing comes to mind when she was asked that question,” Vance said. “Maybe that is true. Kamala Harris runs from the American people. She has a defect in leadership skills.”
“The way she is running her campaign is an insult,” Vance stated. “She is asking for the authority to command. It is a disgraceful way to run a campaign.”
At one point during the event, a woman fell when the riser she was standing on became unstable. Vance commented that Kamala Harris must have built it. The audience loved it.
