KENOSHA – Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance hit Democrats on crime and public safety issues Tuesday just hours before Vice President Kamala Harris and her running mate Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz were set to appear for a rally 40 miles away in Milwaukee .
During his third trip to Wisconsin in as many weeks , Vance proclaimed, "I basically live in Wisconsin now."
Speaking in front of the Kenosha County Courthouse, in a city upended by social justice protests that turned violent in 2020, Vance slammed Harris and accused Democratic Gov. Tony Evers of waiting to deploy the National Guard during the protests that came under the national spotlight amid the police shooting of Jacob Blake and Kyle Rittenhouse's subsequent trial after he fatally shot two rioters.
(The Evers administration deployed the National Guard to Kenosha the day before civil unrest erupted and doubled the deployment to 250 that day.)
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“Who was it that pacified the streets of Wisconsin and ensured that those riots didn't spiral out of control and burn down the entire city? That was President Donald J. Trump,” Vance said while praising national law enforcement. “Without that, I really think that Kenosha would still be recovering from those terrible riots today.”
It was Vance's third trip to the state since former President Donald Trump tapped him as his running mate during the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee. He spoke to reporters in Eau Claire 3.6 miles away from Harris and Walz’s rally on Aug. 7 and last Friday sought to tie illegal immigration to crime during a visit with a small crowd of law enforcement and reporters at the Milwaukee police union .
At Tuesday’s event, Vance spoke for about 25 minutes to a crowd of 100 supporters.
His remarks primarily highlighted Trump’s support of police and attacked Democratic leadership on crime during protests in the summer of 2020. He also reiterated campaign promises to end sanctuary cities and deport illegal immigrants.
He said Wisconsin has suffered from “two failures” of Harris’ vice presidency: Harris’ policies on manufacturing and energy, which he said have led to a decrease in manufacturing jobs, and her record on public safety.
REPLAY: Kamala Harris, Tim Walz pack rally at Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Republican VP nominee JD Vance in Kenosha
“You saw with the riots in Kenosha in the summer of 2020, Wisconsin has suffered when you don't have good, smart, pro-public safety and leadership, and that’s what Donald Trump and I want to bring back to the White House.”
Meanwhile, Harris and Walz prepared to speak to thousands of supporters in Fiserv Forum — the same arena where Trump was coronated as the Republican nominee a month earlier — where they planned to watch former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama’s DNC speeches following their remarks.
Vance said he caught “bits and pieces” of the DNC and said the contrast between Harris and Trump’s safety policies is “really striking.”
“It's almost a joke to me that they held it in Chicago, which has become the murder capital of the United States of America thanks to very failed Democrat leadership,” Vance said. “My little theory about why they decided to have the convention in Chicago is Tim Walz has been going around saying that he served in war, and maybe they did it in Chicago so they could actually, accurately say that he visited a combat zone.”
Vance, a military veteran, has attacked Walz’s military record and the timing of his retirement before deployment to Iraq.
More: 'Appalled': Veterans slam Trump campaign's attacks on Tim Walz's military background
Republican Senate candidate Eric Hovde, Janesville Republican U.S. Rep. Bryan Steil and Kenosha County Sheriff David Zoerner joined Vance. Trump hasn’t visited Wisconsin since the RNC.
The visit comes as Trump and Harris are in a statistical dead hea t in Wisconsin, a critical swing state in November's presidential election. Trump in 2020 beat Biden by 2,779 votes in conservative-leaning Kenosha County.
Vance said Wisconsin “may be very well be the most important state in the country” politically.
“I basically live in Wisconsin now. You’ll be seeing a lot of me over the next few months,” Vance said. After someone in the crowd yelled “Go Packers,” he responded, “I’d have see about that, sir.”
Back in Chicago , Democratic delegates at the Democratic National Convention bashed Vance’s visit.
Delegate Henry Pahlow of Maribel said voters would see “the dichotomy between a campaign of hope and enthusiasm” from Harris and Walz and a campaign that “wants to take us back 50 years” from Vance.
“We're upset about him coming to Kenosha and coming at the same time as they're (Harris and Walz) going to be there,” said Kenosha delegate Sally Simpson. “We don't really know what his purpose is for coming.”
Following his remarks in front of the courthouse, Vance visited Tenuta’s, an Italian deli in Kenosha known for its family ownership and muffuletta sandwiches. Vance ordered an Italian beef sub with provolone and remarked excitedly that the store carried Buckeye peanut butter fudge candy known for its resemblance to the state tree of Ohio.
One customer, Dan Klemack of Pleasant Prairie, told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel he was ordering a Polish sausage when he noticed Vance flanked by the Secret Service. As Vance left the establishment, he shouted out, “Go get ‘em!”
“I would love to see him get in the White House there with Trump again,” Klemack said. “Last time Trump was in the White House, I thought my bank accounts were a lot bigger than they are today.”
Asked about Vance’s choice of sandwich, he said it was “a classic."
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: 'I basically live in Wisconsin now': JD Vance slams Democrats on crime in visit to Kenosha
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