Vance calls Democrats' Nazi references 'disgusting' in Michigan stop
SAGINAW TOWNSHIP — U.S. Sen. and Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance, in a Saginaw Township campaign speech Tuesday, blasted his counterpart Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and other Democrats for comparing Republican nominee Donald Trump and his supporters to Nazis.
"Rather than persuade their fellow Americans, they've decided that they're going to call their fellow Americans Nazis and fascists," Vance said. "I think it's disgusting and a person who would close out her campaign by running and attacking her fellow Americans has no business leading the greatest nation on Earth."
Walz, who is running with Vice President and presidential nominee Kamala Harris on the Democratic ticket, and others have said a Trump rally at New York's Madison Square Garden on Sunday was similar to a 1930s rally there at which Hitler was praised and attendees were photographed wearing swastikas. Trump's rally also has drawn criticism for crude remarks about Puerto Rico made by speakers.
Vance lauded a World War II veteran in attendance as "a man who fought real Nazis," which drew a standing ovation for the man from the crowd of about 500 people. Vance spoke for about 45 minutes.
He said the men who stormed the beaches of Normandy didn't risk their lives so those entering the country illegally could get taxpayer-funded sex-change operations or so that the Southern border could be left open.
Vance gave a shoutout to Saginaw County's agricultural economy, in addition to its history in the auto industry. Vance emphasized Trump's plan to place tariffs on imported goods.
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"President Trump says all the time, we're going to use tariffs to actually protect American industry and to protect American workers," Vance said.
Democrats say the tariffs are a tax that will be passed on to American consumers through higher prices on everyday goods.
"A second Trump term would be even more dangerous than the first and would increase costs for families by nearly $4,000 a year and hurt small business owners," the Harris campaign said in a statement issued before Vance spoke.
The speech, on a recreation center basketball court in Saginaw Township, included an American flag backdrop and campaign banners hanging from the mezzanine level.
Saginaw County has become a bellwether county in a bellwether state. Vance noted that he was glad to be back in Michigan and guaranteed that he'd be back again.
Paul Baldwin, 74, of Swartz Creek, is a UAW retiree who worked for General Motors in Flint for 50 years.
He attended the rally in a red MAGA hat and a matching T-shirt and liked what he heard from Vance.
"He's an excellent speaker," Baldwin said. "I thought he gave great answers to all the questions."
Baldwin said he was a Democrat years ago, voting for Bill Clinton twice and Barack Obama once. But he thinks the party has moved too far left.
"They are not John Kennedy-style Democrats," he said. "They are now the American Socialist Party, and socialism and a free republic don't mix."Contact John Wisely: [email protected]. On X @jwisely.
(This story was updated to add a link and change a phrase to follow AP Style.)
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Vance calls Democrats' Nazi references 'disgusting' in Michigan stop