Vice President JD Vance sought to paint a rosy picture of the U.S. economy during a Friday speech in North Carolina, claiming that President Donald Trump\u2019s administration\u2019s policies are putting more money in the pocket of consumers \u2014 an assertion that comes as Americans are largely concerned about inflation.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cAfter the first year of President Donald Trump and congressional Republicans\u2019 leadership, we are rebuilding the American dream,\u201d Vance told a group in Rocky Mount. \u201cAnd we are taking back this country for the people of this state.\u201d<\/p>\n
Vance\u2019s visit comes as four in five Americans say inflation is a \u201cvery big\u201d concern and as few see the economy as thriving, according to a recent Reuters\/Ipsos poll. The poll, which was taken before the start of the ongoing U.S.-Iran conflict, found that Americans have negative views of Trump\u2019s handling of inflation and the cost of living. A majority of Americans hold Trump responsible for the economy, according to the poll.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Flanked by banners that said \u201clower prices, bigger paychecks,\u201d Vance said Trump\u2019s policies would lower taxes for working families and increase tax refunds. He also criticized former President Joe Biden\u2019s policies, blaming them for high inflation. Many of his claims \u2014 including some about home sales and interest rates \u2014 weren\u2019t supported by government data.<\/p>\n
\u201cJoe Biden put us in a big hole,\u201d Vance said. \u201cSo to the Democrats who talk about affordability a lot of the time, why don’t you look yourselves in the mirror?\u201d<\/p>\n
The boosting of Trump\u2019s economic policies and the bashing of Biden come as Republicans and Democrats spar over which party could better handle the economy. The topic has emerged as a central issue on the campaign trail as Republicans seek to retain majorities in the U.S. House and U.S. Senate.\u00a0<\/p>\n
That\u2019s what made Rocky Mount a fitting backdrop for Vance\u2019s speech. The city sits in the state\u2019s 1st Congressional District, which was recently redrawn to more strongly favor a Republican in the November elections. It\u2019s also 12 miles from Nashville, North Carolina, the hometown of Democrat Roy Cooper, a former two-term governor who is vying to fill the seat of outgoing U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis, a Republican.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Laurie Buckhout, the Republican nominee for the 1st district race, spoke ahead of Vance, as did Michael Whatley, the former Republican National Committee chairman who won the GOP nomination in the state\u2019s U.S. Senate race.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Cooper has visited the district multiple times in recent months to speak against Trump\u2019s tariff policies and to talk about his plans to combat inflation \u2014 while also seeking to paint Whatley, who has supported the president\u2019s policies, as a rubber stamp for Trump.<\/p>\n
On Friday, Whatley said the election would be \u201ca choice between President Trump’s vision for America \u2026 or do we want to go back to the Democrat platform that we saw over the previous four years of open borders, inflationary spending and a woke, weak America?\u201d<\/p>\n
He added: \u201cWe do not want to go back to Roy Cooper’s North Carolina. We want jobs. We want economic growth. We want bigger paychecks. We want lower prices.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Vance used much of his 30-plus-minute speech touting Buckhout and criticizing U.S. Rep. Don Davis, who was drawn out of the district when legislative Republicans crafted new congressional boundaries. The district now more strongly favors a Republican. Davis, a moderate Democrat who at times has voted with Republicans, won the district in years when Trump also won the district. Vance sought to paint Davis as more liberal than his voting record might suggest.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cDon Davis is not a man who stands for the people of this state or this district,\u201d Vance said. \u201cHe is a person who does exactly what Nancy Pelosi tells him to do, and in November, we’re going to send him home and get him out of Washington, D.C.\u201d<\/p>\n
Madison Andrus, a spokesperson for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, defended Davis and took aim at Vance, saying the vice president was in North Carolina to \u201clie to working families and attempt to sell them on a failing economy.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cDon Davis has been in [the 1st Congressional District] all week delivering millions of dollars in federal funding for local emergency services, wastewater treatment upgrades, a new senior center and a new community center, and resources for local firefighters,\u201d Andrus said. \u201cVoters know the difference between results and empty talk.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
In a video on social media, Davis encouraged Vance to have an open dialogue with him. <\/p>\n
“Let’s have a real conversation without the lights cameras and the attacks,” Davis said. “These are real issues impacting families\u00a0\u2014 all of our families\u00a0\u2014 and it’s so important for us to keep fighting for them.”\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Trump administration is facing additional pressure on the economy as fuel prices rise amid conflict in the Middle East. Asked if he expressed any concerns about the economic impact of the conflict to Trump, Vance said there\u2019s a long-term benefit to the short-term pain of higher gas prices.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Since the U.S. and Israel began strikes against Iran last month, the average price of a gallon of gas is up 21%, according to Patrick De Haan with GasBuddy.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat the president has said very clearly is that he does not like higher oil prices, and neither do I,\u201d Vance said. \u201cBut he also believes that we’re going to make the American people safer, and that we’re to bring those prices at the pump back down to the levels they need to be for the American people.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
He then blamed high gas prices on Biden and said Trump\u2019s actions would help the country become more energy-independent. \u201cThe gas prices we’re seeing today are nothing like what we saw at the peak of the Biden administration,\u201d Vance said, \u201cbecause the President has set us up for energy dominance. <\/p>\n
Watch:\u00a0VP JD Vance’s speech in Rocky Mount focuses on affordability and November election<\/a><\/p>\n FEMA funding<\/p>\n