MUSIC (00:00):
... for the FBI.
(00:00)
Sitting in a nest of bad men.
JD Vance (00:12):
Well, it is great to be back in Oakland County, Michigan. And I got to say, we have an amazing leader at the Environmental Protection Agency in Lee Zeldin. Lee, you do an amazing job. Let's give him a round of applause.
(00:29)
Please, please, y'all, take your seats, take your seats. You're a politician with a microphone. I want to be up here about three hours, so we don't want anybody fainting. But here we've got a leader at the EPA who recognizes that we've got to protect American clean air, clean water. Of course, we all want a safe environment for our kids, but we can do that while still having the strongest economy anywhere in the world. And that's exactly what Lee Zeldin has done for us. He's been good for Michigan workers. He's been good for Michigan families. He's been good for building and making things in America because he recognizes that unless we cut out all these crazy regulations, just as President Trump recognizes, we're never going to rebuild the American dream.
(01:09)
So Lee, thank you for all you do and for the Republicans in the room, which I hope is most of you, or at least the independent-minded Democrats and Independents. Lee is the reason why we have a Republican Speaker of the House right now. Nobody knows that or appreciates that because a couple of years ago, Lee Zeldin was the New York gubernatorial candidate at a time where, of course, it's very hard for a Republican to win the New York governor's race, but he so overperformed and did such a good job in that race that he drug a number of New York congressmen across the finish line. They're in Congress today enacting good policy because Lee Zeldin ran a hell of a race. So thank you, Lee, for everything that you do. Now, just on a personal note, I am very, very grateful and I appreciate the warm welcome you guys gave to our wonderful second lady, my lovely wife, Usha Vance. Thank you, honey, for being here. Usha is now 22 weeks pregnant with baby number four, so we're very excited about that. And I remember when we decided to run for vice president I said, "Honey, I really want to have a fourth kid." And she said, "Well, you can become vice president or you can have a fourth baby." But ladies and gentlemen, I am persuasive because I got both.
(02:45)
But let me just say on one other personal note, so we left Washington this morning, which has the craziest weather anywhere maybe I've ever lived in my entire life. Washington DC, if you hate the weather, just wait 10 minutes because it's going to change. So we get on the plane and I look at my staff and I say, "It is cold in Washington. I hope that we're going someplace warm." And they said, "Well, we're going to Auburn Hills, Michigan." And I said, "Oh. I bet it's not warmer in Auburn Hills, Michigan." But you know what? Cold weather makes hardy people. It makes great American workers. And this is the hardest working state anywhere in the union with the best workers. And you all know as an Ohio State alum, how hard that is for me to say.
(03:42)
But I'm going to give you just a little bit of grief here because of course this incredible business that we're in with a hundred high quality American manufacturers doing great things is called Engineering Design Services Incorporated. And I met some of the leadership just backstage. And of course, so many of you are the very people who work with your hands, you work with your minds, and you keep this great American renaissance and manufacturing going. The fact that we added over 2,000 manufacturing jobs in this state since Donald Trump became president is a testament to what you all make possible.
(04:19)
Because across the street we got FANUC, one of the largest robotics companies anywhere in the world and everything that you guys do every single day makes it possible for FANUC to do what they do. And I love that connection. I love that synergy between American workers here, American workers across the street building great robotics so American workers in Wisconsin could make things that they weren't making two years ago. And the reason that has happened is because Donald J. Trump decided that we were sick of shipping American jobs overseas. We were sick of shipping American industry overseas. We are going to build right here in Michigan, right here at home, right here in the United States of America, and that's what we've done.
(05:10)
Now that said, as proud as we are of the great robotics that are happening right here and across the street, do you know that, and you all should be very proud of this, Michigan is the number two state in educational robotics adoption. I didn't know that until I was talking with somebody backstage, the number two state out of 50, and this is where the grief comes in. Guess what's number one? Sir, I won't even repeat it because I'm going to get absolutely ran out of town if I say that. But we all know that as much as Michigan and Ohio we have such a great rivalry, we have that rivalry because these are two of the states that are the proudest when it comes to building things and making things and creating the American dream. That's why I love this state.
(06:10)
But I want to talk a little bit just about what the President of the United States and the entire team has done with the auto industry and the great state of Michigan. I know we're not in an auto plant, but this is an economy that depends on American automobile manufacturers. And it's one of the things that I'm proudest of that we did. Because we inherited a country where Joe Biden and the Democrats were trying to wage war against our American automakers. They were creating thousands and thousands of pages of new regulations. They were going to war against American energy. They were trying to force every single person [inaudible 00:06:47] United States of America because we want people to choose.
(07:08)
So here's a statistic for you. In 2025, last year, new US vehicle sales rose by 2.4%, which is the biggest jump in American made automobiles since 2019, the last time Donald J. Trump was president. We've seen just in the last six months, we've seen the effects of our tax policy start to make its way into the Michigan automobile industry. Those working families tax cuts that Lee helped get past and John James and so many of our great Michiganders helped make happen, that is real money in your pocket. And for our businesses, that means they can hire more, that means they can create more jobs, that means they can invest more in our great country.
(07:52)
Those working families tax cuts mean no taxes on Social Security. If you like no taxes on Social Security, remember, Republicans made it happen in Congress. If you like no taxes on overtime, because we've got a lot of great overtime workers just here in this place, you ought to thank a Republican in Congress because congressional Republicans made no taxes on overtime happen and Democrats fought us every single step of the way. And if you happen to believe that lowering taxes for people making less than $100,000 a year, and everybody else, by the way, is good policy, then again, we got to remember that it was congressional Republicans that made those victories happen.
(08:38)
And I happen to believe I'm fundamentally, I think a lot of you know this, I'm an optimist about this country. I think that we have great Democrats, great Republicans, great independents, but the Democrats in Washington DC are a different breed from the Democrats that exist in most of the rest of the country. I was raised by two working class Democrats. They were patriotic. My grandfather was a union steel worker for pretty much his entire life. I don't think he would understand the Democrat party of Hakeem Jeffries and Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi because they don't celebrate American victories. They don't vote for lower taxes for American workers. They don't seem to be happy when America is doing well.
(09:19)
And fundamentally, the reason I'm here is to get us to remember we've got an election, it seems like it's very far off. But the reality is in just about six months, you're going to be asked to go to the polls and you're going to be presented a question. Do you support the party that fights for fraud and illegal immigration or do you support the Republican party that fights for you for lower taxes and for good jobs right here in Michigan?
(09:45)
And I want to make sure I read off, I mean things that I learned about just on the airplane that are happening to this incredible state. You know that Detroit Diesel, one of the biggest engine manufacturers, announced it was adding a third shift and we're calling laid off workers that have been laid off last year. Why do you think that happens? That happens for two reasons, because we've got tax policies that promote the investment in the American worker and because the President of the United States for the first time in my entire lifetime was willing to say to the rest of the world, "You're done poaching our industry, you're done poaching our jobs." If you want to build right here in the United States of America, you get a big fat tax cut. But if you're trying to undercut the wages of American workers and bring in cheap garbage from overseas, you're going to get a big fat tax increase because we're protecting our workers and we're protecting the jobs to support them.
(10:54)
So we eliminated the EV mandate. We eliminated a lot of the taxes that made it hard
JD Vance (11:00):
... hard for us to invest in our communities. We had a President of the United States who was willing to go to war against those foreign companies and those foreign countries who were undercutting the wages of American workers, and that is how you get the results that we have seen just over the last 14 months. And I'll tell you, because I see him every day, I talked to him this morning before I hit the road to come to Michigan, the President of the United States is proud of this record, but he is more impatient than any person I've ever met. One of the things I love about him is he will constantly tell Lee, me, the entire economic team will say, "Let's celebrate our achievements, of course, but what have we done today? What have we done in the last week? What have we done in the last month to keep this progress going?"
(11:48)
Now, there's a statistic I'm going to toss out at you, but I think all of you have felt this statistic in your hearts because under the Biden administration, the average American worker lost $ 3,000 in take-home pay. That was a combination of two things, higher prices, that terrible inflation problem that we had under Joe Biden's leadership, but it was also because of higher taxes. So, every single one of us, we got about an average of $3,000 poorer while Joe Biden and the Democrats ran Washington, D.C. That is a very, very bad statistic.
(12:23)
Now, the good news is over the last 14 months under Donald Trump's leadership, the average American has actually increased their take-home pay by about $1,400. Now, that's a good thing. That $1,400 is money in your pocket. But what it also means is that a lot of our families are still struggling because of that terrible hole that Joe Biden and the Democrats put us in. And for so many of us, the question in November is going to be very simply, do we support the people who made us hundreds and hundreds of dollars richer or do we support the people who made us hundreds and hundreds of dollars poorer? Let's support the people who made us richer, more prosperous and more secure, and that's the congressional leadership in Washington, D.C.
(13:13)
Because here's the thing, I landed... I don't even remember which airport we landed in, but it was about a 20-minute drive from there to here. And I was looking around and I was thinking to myself, again, this is why even though I'm an Ohio State guy, I love this state, it reminded me so much of my hometown. You've got some of these beautiful old homes that I saw, places that harken back to an era of American greatness when we built these beautiful buildings and some of them looked amazing and some of them, let's be honest, looked like they were struggling. I drove through some areas that were clearly struggling [inaudible 00:13:58].
(13:50)
... whether it was on Wall Street or a foreign company or foreign competitor, we weren't going to sell out the American dream of the people right in this room, so that somebody could make a quick buck or so that some foreign competitor or some foreign country could get rich off of the infrastructure that the United States of America had built over 250 proud years. And what I realized driving through this area is that the American Renaissance, ladies and gentlemen, $1,200 richer in 14 months is a lot, but there is so much more that we can do together. There is so much more to be built, so much more to be reclaimed, so much more to be made anew in the United States of America, but it's not going to happen by going back to the failed policies of Joe Biden and Nancy Pelosi. It's going to be by doubling down on the policies of Donald J. Trump and the people who love this country. In the same way that the American dream wasn't sold out in one year, it's going to take us longer to rebuild it. And what is really at stake in this election in November is fundamentally, we've done so much good and we've built so much and we've been able to do a lot for the American people, but the Democrats threaten to take us straight back to where we were just a few short years ago. And we all know the economic statistics. We all know the fact that we felt it in our pockets, that everything from groceries to our home electricity bill was going up at a level that it hadn't gone up in 40 years under Joe Biden.
(15:43)
But it's not just that because the American dream, my friends, as you all know, it's not just about going out and being able to buy something as important as that is. It's not just about the economics, the dollars and cents, though of course we demand that our citizens become more prosperous. It's also about peace and security. It's about being safe in your own home. It's about what I think of as a classic American idea that just because you grew up in a poor family, like mine, doesn't mean you shouldn't be able to walk down the street in safety and security in your own country. And that is what Joe Biden and his leadership and Nancy Pelosi and all these clowns in Washington, that is the thing that they tried to take away the most from us.
(16:25)
Where do you think the fentanyl that flooded our streets and killed hundreds of thousands of our citizens came from? It came from Joe Biden's wide-open border. Where do you think the highest crime rates, the highest murder rates came from during that administration? They came from the fact that we went to war on the police, rather than on the criminals who committed crimes. Where do you think the fact that we had elevated murder rates, not just in our big cities, but in our small towns? Because we let in hundreds of thousands of violent criminals into the United States of America. So, when I talk about the American dream, I mean, number one, that I want you to have a good job that pays you a good wage, that allows you to put food on the table, but also take a couple of nice vacations every year. But what I also mean is that we need to get the people who are making our cities less safe, the hell out of our country and focus on American citizens first. Because as much as we have achieved and as much as I'm proud of what we've done over the last 14 months, the Democrats threaten to take us right back to where we were the last time that they had control of the government. Think about it, think about the State of the Union address. It feels like forever ago. I think it was even a month ago. And as you all know, I have a very unique perspective on the State of the Union address, right? I'm the one person, the president's obviously talking, and I guess me and Mike Johnson, the Speaker of the House, are the two people who just get to see the Congress. We don't have anything to say. And you stand up and sit down probably 150 times, but it gave me a perspective on what's going on in our country... I should say what's going on in our Capitol more than what's going on in our country, because I realized that there is such cowardice in the political leadership in Washington, D.C. I've never seen anything like it.
(18:26)
So, you may remember this line, if you don't, I'll repeat it for you, but the president said something to the effect of, I'm paraphrasing a little bit, but he said something like, "If you believe that the government ought to put American citizens first, rather than illegal aliens, stand up and cheer." And every Republican and like three or four Democrats stood up and cheered. But what was funny is not just that the Democrats were sitting on their hands, it's that they were all looking around like, "What do we do here?" And what kind of a person is elected to serve in congressional leadership and has to look around at their peers rather than stand up and clap for the basic idea that the American government should be fighting for you, not people who are fraudulently in our country.
(19:17)
What kind of a person can't stand and clap for a six-year-old girl who was hugging her father because she was a little nervous she was in the public spotlight, but we were celebrating this six-year-old girl because she had survived a criminal attack from an illegal alien who shouldn't be in this country? And the Democrats couldn't stand and cheer at that.
(19:37)
And the thing that I took away from that is much more than any political issue, any policy issue. I can stand up here and proudly say that we shut the border, we lowered your taxes, and we have the lowest murder rate on history, and that is something I'm very proud of. But you know what I'm more proud of? That I am part of a political movement that is fighting for each and every single person in this room. It doesn't mean you're always going to agree with us. Doesn't mean you're going to agree with everything that congressional Republicans do in Washington, D.C., but what I do know is that they wake up and they think, "How can we best serve the people of this community and the people of the United States of America?" And that is the biggest dividing line and it breaks my heart to say it.
(20:28)
The biggest dividing line in our politics is not tax policy or regulatory policy or even immigration as much as you and I care about all these things. The biggest dividing line in our country is that we have, in Washington, D.C., one political movement that is dedicated to fraud, to illegal immigration, and to making sure that this country is safe for them rather than safe for us. I would love, I really would, I would love to live in a country where when the President of the United States says, "It is the duty of the American government to look after American citizens first," for everybody, Democrat and Republican, to stand up and cheer.
(21:16)
But my simple request is that until we get to that moment, until the Democrats can cheer for the idea that the government fights for you, until the Democrats can cheer for the fact that the government should be lowering your taxes, until the Democrats stand and cheer for the fact that the border ought to be closed and we ought to get the cartels out of our country, do not send those crazy people or any more of them to Washington, D.C., support the people who fight for you and that is Donald J. Trump and the entire leadership of this party.
(21:46)
Okay. So, I've said everything or at least most of what I want to say here, but
JD Vance (22:01):
I want to give one note of shout out to our fellow Americans in this community who have suffered a little bit in the last couple of weeks, and then I'll take some questions from the reporters.
(22:10)
I believe we're only about a half an hour or so away from the facility Temple Israel, the synagogue that was attacked by a terrorist just, well, not even a week ago, I believe. And I think that all of us ought to keep these folks in our prayers because when something happens to any member of our American family, and this particular incident happened to Jewish members of our American family, it is something that all of us have to stand up and say, "It's disgusting; it's unacceptable, and we're not going to tolerate it in the United States of America."
(22:52)
So I hope all the folks from Temple Israel know that we're praying for them; we're thinking about them from the President of the United States, the vice president and everybody else. And we're proud of how you've handled this particular situation because it is tough. In particular, there was a police veteran who was a security guard by the name of Danny Phillips, and Danny Phillips was one of the heroes that day. He was injured protecting the people in that community, and I hope all of us will give a big round of applause and a prayer to Danny Phillips. He's the very best of this country, and sometimes you see the very best on our worst days. So with that, I will say thank you all for having me. The fun is not over yet. We'll take a few questions from the reporters, but if we could, what I'd like to do is start out with the local reporters first, and then if we have time, we'll get to the national reporters after that. Okay, go ahead, guys.
Brett Kast (23:49):
Hi, Mr. Vice President, Brett Kast with WXYZ here in Detroit. Thank you for taking questions. We're seeing gas prices here climbing at home, in particular here in Metro Detroit with what's going on with Iran and the impacts on the street, or Hormuz. What is the administration doing to help keep gas prices down, and where do you see gas prices going here in the near future?
JD Vance (24:07):
Well, the President of the United States has been crystal clear about this. Look, gas prices are up, and we know they're up, and we know that people are hurting because of it, and we're doing everything that we can to ensure that they stay lower. I will say, the president said this, and I certainly agree with it, this is a temporary blip, okay? What happened under the Biden administration is that gas prices were high for four years. Gas prices are higher right now, and frankly, they're not even as high as they were during certain parts of the Biden administration. Because of what's going on in the Middle East, it's not going to last forever. We're going to take care of business. We're going to come back home. And when that happens, you're going to see energy prices come back down to reality.
(24:46)
But in the meantime, we got a problem. We know that we have a problem. We're doing everything that we can to address it. A couple of steps that we've taken just in the last couple of weeks is that we actually worked with a lot of our allies all over the world who are suffering from this, frankly, more than we are because unlike the United States where we've pursued an energy dominance agenda, you've got a lot of people all over the world who have focused on a lot of green energy scams, and they're hurting a lot more than we are.
(25:14)
So as much as we got to focus on getting these gas prices down, the reality is overseas, they're feeling it far worse than we did because we've taken the steps to protect our energy economy. So, for example, what we did working with these allies is we released hundreds of millions of barrels out of all these petroleum reserves so that we could put some downward pressure on prices. We're working on a number of things.
(25:39)
In fact, a couple of things that I think will be announced in just the next 24 to 48 hours. I don't want to get ahead of the president on that, but we recognize this is an issue. We are fighting against it, and we promise that when this conflict draws to a close, when this operation draws to a close, we're going to see those energy prices come back down to reality because that's what the president promised to do. He delivered an energy dominant agenda. It's made us much more secure in the face of these things. But yeah, we got a rough road ahead of us for the next few weeks, but it's temporary.
(26:12)
Next question.
Remington Hernandez (26:14):
Hi. Remington Hernandez News Channel 3 in Kalamazoo. The Gordie Howe Bridge is not too far from here. President Trump has made some comments about a trade with Canada. For manufacturers here in Michigan, that bridge will be a lifeline to get products over the border. Do you think that the president has taken the right steps with Canada in regards to the bridge, and do you think that it should open on time?
JD Vance (26:37):
Well, the president's attitude to Canada is they are an important ally. They're an important trading partner, especially for folks in this region of our country, but Canada has taken advantage of the United States of America for far too long. And they've taken advantage of the United States in a couple of different ways.
(26:53)
Number one, they have allowed us to subsidize their entire military, their entire security. Canada pays virtually nothing, at least until a couple of years ago, for their own security, which means we had to foot the bill for that security. Is that fair to you and your kids that you have to pay for the military of a foreign country? No. So the President of the United States said to the Canadians, "Number one, you guys got to take your own security more seriously. You're always going to be an ally, but why don't you have a little bit more self-sufficiency?" And I think that makes complete and total sense.
(27:26)
The second thing the president said is, "If we're going to be true friends, you have to treat our workers as fairly as we've treated Canadian workers for 40 years." Again, we have let so many people over the entire time that I've been alive take advantage of the United States of America. The president said, "If you're going to apply a tariff to our goods, we're going to start applying a tariff to your goods too." It's basic fairness.
(27:51)
And that's what we've done, and our hope with Canada, and I think we'll get there eventually, is we're going to get to a point where Canada treats our workers fairly, we treat their workers' fairly, and they're going to be a true ally and a true friend, not somebody who's taken advantage of us, which is what they've done for most of my life. Thank you.
(28:08)
Next question.
Will Jones (28:10):
Will Jones from Local 4. With the ongoing war with Iran and the recent attack that you just mentioned on a synagogue not too far from here, what is being done to keep Americans safe here at home?
JD Vance (28:22):
Yeah, a very good question. I believe that Tulsa Gabbard and John Ratcliffe are actually testifying before Congress right now to talk about some of these issues.
(28:29)
So let me just say that it is an obsessive focus of the entire US government to understand where the threats are, where people might attack innocent Americans and what we can do to address it, to get ahead of it, and if god forbid something does happen, to respond to it as quickly as possible. And there's a whole host of things that happen.
(28:49)
Look, we're monitoring some classified stuff, some phone calls, things like that so that we can try to figure out when foreign actors want to come into our country to commit acts of terrorism in the United States of America. We've got the FBI searching for people who have come in usually illegally to the United States of America who might wish the United States ill will. We're continuing to get illegal criminals out of our country because those are very often the people who commit acts of violence against the United States of America against our people. So there's a lot that we're working on.
(29:25)
Knock on wood, I think that we've had a very good track record with security under the Trump administration. We've got murder rates as low as they've ever been, but the only way to stay ahead of this stuff is to keep vigilant about it. The unfortunate reality is there are always bad people out there. Again, very many of them outside of our country who are trying to come in, they're always going to be there. What you need your government to do, what you should expect your government to do, is to stay on top of it and keep you as safe as possible. That's what we try to do every single day. Thank you.
Colin Jackson (30:01):
Colin Jackson, Michigan Public Radio Network. We're seeing ICE expanding its presence in Southeast Michigan with developments near the airport and Romulus and office spaces in Southfield. And I'm wondering what words you would have to say to community members who may be concerned that this might lead to an increase in aggressive immigration tactics like we've seen in Minnesota or Chicago.
JD Vance (30:21):
Well, what I'd say is that ICE is a very simple job, and it's not just ICE, it's the entire federal government. Law enforcement agencies, the various three letter agencies that exist within the federal government, it's to make people safe. And ICE in particular is trying to get violent criminals out of the United States of America. People who have no legal right to be in the United States of America, the best thing they could do is just go home voluntarily. That would be the easiest thing.
(30:48)
And I always find it a little bit weird when congressional Democrats or others say, "How dare you?" And then the thing that they're so offended by is that we're getting illegal aliens, many of them with criminal records out of our country. How dare we? That's exactly what we should be doing. That's what we promised we would do when the American people elected Donald J. Trump President of the United States, to protect the American people.
(31:10)
You heard the last questioner asking justifiably about how we're keeping people safe. One of the ways that we keep people safe is by making sure bad people are outside of our country rather than inside of our country. And if they're inside of our country, it's inside of a jail cell, which is where they should be. But on this issue of, they're worried about ... I forget how you phrased the question. You said they're worried about aggressive enforcement. We have had ICE and immigration enforcement operating in 50 states, in red states and in blue states, and very, very blue cities and very, very red cities without any incident. And the two exceptions, maybe three exceptions, are where? Minneapolis, Chicago, and Los Angeles, because in those three states, the local political leadership said, "Do not cooperate with getting violent criminals out of our state or out of our city."
(32:09)
Now, I don't understand that. If I'm living in suburban Minneapolis and I find out there's a sex offender or illegal alien living three blocks away from me, I'm going to be calling the police and saying, "Get this person out of my country." But unfortunately, you've had some governors and a couple of mayors who have said they're going to do everything possible to create civil strife by blocking immigration enforcement.
(32:37)
What I would ask people in town to do, what I'd ask everybody in these communities to do, is just tell your local leadership that you want them to cooperate with getting bad people out of the United States of America. So long as we've got the cooperation and so long as we're working as a team, the chaos that you see in Minneapolis, it's not going to happen. It only happens when you've got broken and dysfunctional political leadership
JD Vance (33:00):
... that tries to stop us from doing our jobs.
Craig Mauger (33:09):
Thank you for taking questions, Mr. Vice President. Craig Mauger from The Detroit News newspaper here. There's a lot of concern and talk in Michigan right now ahead of this pivotal midterm election that the federal government might somehow intervene in the administration of the election here in this state. Do you have any promises that you would make that the federal government will not intervene in any way in this election? Or what would you tell people in Michigan who are concerned about that?
JD Vance (33:36):
Well, what do you mean by the federal government intervening in the election? That's the first I've ever heard of it, but maybe I don't understand your question.
Craig Mauger (33:42):
I believe the President has talked about nationalizing elections in recent months himself. It's state-
JD Vance (33:50):
Well, if what you mean by intervening in the election is that we want everybody to have a voter ID before voting in this country, yes, we should be doing that, to be clear.
Audience (33:59):
USA. USA. USA. USA. USA. USA.
JD Vance (34:14):
If by what you mean is Marco Rubio has like five jobs, is the President going to send Marco Rubio to Michigan to be a ballot counter as his sixth title? I don't think so. I haven't talked to the President or Marco about it. But look, there's a lot of scare tactics and there's a lot of scary language floating around there. The President and I have been working very hard. We actually got a good vote yesterday in the United States Senate on the SAVE America Act, which is a very simple piece of legislation that does a number of things. But one of the things it does is actually establish this very simple principle that if you're going to vote in a federal election, you ought to show identification before you do so. I think that's very much common sense. So no, we don't want to intervene in elections, but we certainly want to make elections safe and secure. Number one, because we want to make sure that the will of the voters is actually recognized and respected. But think about this. We've got, I don't know how many people, a lot of people in this room. Let's say for every single person here, an illegal alien shows up and votes in a Michigan election. That isn't just fraudulent and that isn't just illegal. That steals your right to vote away from you because then your vote counts for less. If you believe, as I do, that the American people are sovereign in their own country, then you have to believe that their vote should be protected. And the only way to fully protect their vote is to prevent fraudsters from coming and voting in American elections.
(35:45)
Okay. And we'll take just one more question.
Ben Solis (35:56):
Hello, Mr. Vice President. Ben Solis, Michigan Advance. Joe Kent resigned from his post over his objection to the war on Iran. He was among those Republicans who was pretty dedicated to Trump's agenda and the MAGA movement. So how does his exit speak to the fracture of that coalition over the war? And what can you say to those who deeply believe in the President's agenda, but are really worried about the consequences of what the war on Iran holds? Well,
JD Vance (36:19):
Look, the President has said this, I've said this, nobody likes war, right? And I guarantee the President of the United States is not interested in getting us in the kind of long- term quagmires that we've seen in years past. I know the President, I know the way that he thinks about America's national security. That is not a risk with this president at all.
(36:39)
What he has also said consistently for 10, 15 years, maybe even longer, is Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon, and he's willing to take action, diplomatic ideally, but military action if he has to make sure that that doesn't happen. That's all this is about. We don't want the Iranians to have a nuclear weapon. the President's been clear about this, and that's what led to the President's decision of what, about three weeks ago.
(37:02)
Now you ask about Joe Kent. Now, I know Joe Kent a little bit. I like Joe Kent. You heard the President of the United States say yesterday that he likes Joe Kent too. But it's one thing to have a disagreement of opinion. I know the President very well. He welcomes differences of opinion. He likes it when people express their views about what should happen. He listens to everybody. It's one of the great things I like about him is that whether you're the gardener at Mar-a-Lago or whether you're the secretary of the state, the President cares about what you think about an issue. He recognizes that everybody has smarts and everybody has wisdom.
(37:34)
That said, whatever your view is, when the President of the United States makes a decision, it's your job to help make that decision as effective and successful as possible. And so the President said this yesterday, if you are on the team and you can't help implement the decisions of his administration, he has the right to make those decisions, then it's a good thing for you to resign. And I think that's exactly right. It's fine to disagree, but once the President makes a decision, it's up to everybody who serves in his administration to make it as successful as possible. That's how I do my job, and I think that's how everybody in the administration should do their job too.
(38:19)
So let me just say this on a closing note here. We're here in the great state of Michigan, I'll head back to DC this evening. But I just want to say that I know that you guys are the people who actually make this country run. A very formative moment for me, just for a lot of reasons, in part because all of our leaders went completely insane, was the COVID pandemic. And remember how they shut everything down? And I kept thinking to myself, and I knew a lot of people who worked in manufacturing, I knew a lot of people who continued to go to work because they didn't have any other choice. And frankly, while the United States of America would do just fine with a few fewer people on Wall Street on Microsoft Excel, America doesn't do fine at all. If our manufacturers or the people who build and make things don't show up for work and make sure that America has the stuff that it needs.
(39:14)
So one of the ways that we think about our administration, one of the ways that we think about our goal, is that we serve you. You fought for us for long enough. We have to fight for you. You've done your job for the United States of America and you're going to keep on doing it. It's time to have a government that works for you.
(39:34)
I mentioned this earlier. For my entire life, my entire life, the story of my hometown was another factory closed. Another place that provided good jobs to the moms and dads and my friends was going overseas. Another family that faced financial stress because mom or dad lost a job was getting divorced because of the financial pressures created by stupid policies coming out of Washington DC. And I just want you to know, I said this the first time I ever spoke as the vice presidential nominee, and I'll repeat it right now, I will never forget where I came from.
(40:11)
Part of what we're trying to do, the biggest part of what we're trying to do is stop the bleeding and reverse it to where factories were closing down for my entire life, now factories are being built back up. Where engine manufacturers were shutting down shifts, now they're adding shifts. Where people are hiring instead of firing our great American workers. That is what we're trying to do in the Trump administration. In 14 months in, I think that we've got a lot to be proud of and a lot to build on and a lot to keep working at.
(40:46)
But I just want you to know, thank you, but I just want you to know that no matter what you see come out of Washington from the crazy radicals, no matter what the media reports on and tells you, the President of the United States sends this message and the Vice President of the United States agrees with it wholeheartedly, you are the beating heart of the United States of America and the Trump administration will never stop fighting for you every single day.
(41:12)
God bless you all and thank you for having me. Thank you guys.
MUSIC (41:13):
Hello, Pittsburgh steel mill worker, let me thank you for your time
Speaker 1 (41:13):
[Inaudible 00:41:44].
MUSIC (41:13):
You work a 40 hour week for a livin'.
(41:13)
Just to send it on down the line.
(41:13)
Or the one who fights the fire, the one who brings the mail.
(41:13)
For everyone who works behind the scenes.
(41:13)
You can see them every morning, in the factories and the fields.
(41:13)
In the city streets and the quiet country towns.
(41:13)
Working together like spokes inside a wheel.
(41:13)
They keep this country turning around.
(41:13)
Hello Kansas wheat field farmer, let me thank you for your time.
(41:13)
You work a 40 hour week for a livin'.
(41:13)
Just to send it on down the line.