\n\t\t\t\t\t\tIn his first visit to Iowa since taking office, Vice President JD Vance told the crowd in Des Moines Tuesday reelecting Republicans such as U.S. Rep. Zach Nunn in 2026 is vital in order to support businesses, workers and U.S. citizens.\u201cThis is a contest between a party that wants to take all of your money and give it to illegal aliens and a contest between gentlemen like Zach Nunn who fight every single day for you,\u201d Vance said.Vance\u2019s event was officially a White House address to American workers, but it also came as an effort to support Nunn in the Iowa\u2019s 3rd Congressional District in the midterms. Nunn\u2019s reelection bid, alongside U.S. Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks\u2019 campaign to keep the 1st District in Republican control, are expected to be among the most competitive U.S. House races in the 2026 election, both rated as \u201ctoss-ups\u201d by political forecasters such as Cook Political Report.The event was held at the Ex-Guard manufacturing facility in Des Moines, a business that makes grille guards for pickup and semi-trucks. Vance said reelecting Nunn is a way to help protect companies such as Ex-Guard, which he said began business in 2009 \u2014 something Vance characterized as a \u201d tough thing to do\u201d during a global recession.Vance said after the business was founded, the company learned that \u201cforeign countries \u2014 in particular, the People\u2019s Republic of China \u2014 were dumping goods, undercutting the wages of the workers of this factory and driving this place out of business.\u201d\u201cThey were using cheap labor, sometimes slave labor, to try to steal jobs from the hard-working people of this district and this factory floor,\u201d Vance said. \u201cAnd for my entire life, we had presidents and politicians of both parties who didn\u2019t do a single thing to stop (it) and said, \u2018Oh, by the way, absolutely, bring those cheap goods into our country. Bring those things that were built by the hands of slaves rather than the hands of our own workers.’\u201dHe said the first political movement \u201cthat said enough is enough\u201d was led by President Donald Trump.Vance said he spoke with the owners of Ex-Guard before coming to the stage, and they told him the tax cuts made through the \u201cOne Big, Beautiful Bill,\u201d most of which took effect four months ago, have allowed their business to expand, give workers higher salaries and hire new employees. He said critics of Trump\u2019s tariff policies are attacking the very policies that discourage other countries from undercutting wages and taking jobs from Iowa workers.\u201cWhen you hear the Democrats attack the Trump administration\u2019s tax policies, that\u2019s what they\u2019re attacking,\u201d Vance said. \u201cThey\u2019re attacking the policies that make it harder for people to steal your jobs, and they\u2019re attacking the policies that gives you more money to keep in your own pocket.\u201dHe said the Trump administration\u2019s economic policy, through tax cuts and efforts to \u201cbring back American manufacturing,\u201d are now making life affordable in places such as Iowa. He also criticized Democrats for opposing Republicans and the Trump administration\u2019s efforts to fight \u201ccorruption and fraud\u201d in public assistance programs.Vance said progress on such issues would be halted if Democrats regain control of Congress in the 2026 midterms.\u201cThe fundamental question for us in this election is actually not any specific question of public policy, it\u2019s not any particular issue,\u201d Vance said. \u201cIt\u2019s fundamentally, do you want people in Washington, D.C., who fight for you, who fight for the people of this district, or who fight for corruption and fraud?\u201dThe vice president highlighted issues Nunn voted on in Congress that benefited Iowans \u2014 issues, he said, that, Nunn\u2019s expected Democratic opponent would not focus on if elected. Nunn is expected to face Iowa Sen. Sarah Trone Garriott, D-West Des Moines, in the general election \u2014 a name Vance said he was having trouble finding in his notes as he spoke in support of Nunn\u2019s campaign. Neither candidate faces challengers in the June 2 primary.Nunn, who introduced Vance at the event, criticized Trone Garriott in his speech while highlighting his own commitment to bipartisanship.\u201cWhat I don\u2019t need is, I don\u2019t need a lecture from someone who pretends to preach from the pulpit while at the same time doing things like oversee a satanic wedding or tell Americans that they\u2019re too white and too racist, or wag their finger to say, \u2018Hey,\u2019 from the bully pulpit, \u2018most of Iowa is bigoted,’\u201d Nunn said. \u201cI don\u2019t think that\u2019s true. I still believe in the greatness of folks all across the spectrum.\u201dNunn was referencing incidents that have been repeatedly cited by Republican-backed organizations. Trone Garriott, a Lutheran minister, trained as a minister at a church in West Virginia, when the pastor who trained Trone Garriott officiated a wedding \u2014 a Christian ceremony \u2014 between two people who identified as satanists. She described this event at a Des Moines Storytellers Project event in 2023.The other comments referred to by Nunn were comments made by Trone Garriott in a YouTube video published in 2021 where she said she was drawn to run for the state senate because she \u201cjust wanted different kinds of people to be in leadership\u201d who are more representative of the diversity that exists in Iowa, saying the state Legislature is \u201cmostly white, mostly Christian, mostly older men.\u201dTrone Garriott said in a statement Tuesday she was running for Congress \u201cbecause it\u2019s time someone stood up for Iowans.\u201d She criticized Nunn for aligning himself with Vance.\u201cZach Nunn has voted with party leaders like J.D. Vance and special interests to close healthcare clinics in Ottumwa and South Des Moines while raising costs on everything from healthcare to gas and groceries for Iowa families,\u201d Trone Garriott said. \u201cAs a mom, minister, and state senator, I\u2019ve spent my entire life showing up for, and helping, my community, and I plan to do the same in Congress.\u201dVance was originally scheduled to appear with Nunn at an event last Thursday, and was to make another Iowa stop at Iowa State University with Turning Point USA CEO Erica Kirk. These events were rescheduled as Vance and Nunn stayed in Washington, D.C., to vote on measures including the farm bill and a Department of Homeland Security funding bill.Notably, language to promote year-round availability of gasoline with 15% ethanol \u2014 known as E15 \u2014 was not included in the final farm bill passed by Congress. U.S. House GOP leaders have said the House Agriculture Committee will consider a measure related to year-round E15. The subject came up at the Tuesday event, as advocates wearing hats and shirts touting support for year-round E15 cheered as Vance spoke in support of the measure.\u201cWe\u2019re working on it every single day, because, number one, we want viable partners to have access to more markets,\u201d Vance said. \u201cBut number two, we want everybody, all of our fellow citizens across our 50 great states, to benefit from grain right here in Iowa. That\u2019s why we\u2019re fighting for E15.\u201dHe said Nunn is working on this issue already in Congress, stating that \u201ca lot of our partners are struggling with high fertilizer prices\u201d tied to the war in Iran. Vance said the administration is going to \u201ctake care of some business on the foreign policy side,\u201d but said simultaneously, \u201cwe\u2019re working with the congressman, and we\u2019re finding ways every single day to make sure that you guys and the farmers in this great state get access to the products that they need.\u201dThe vice president\u2019s visit to Iowa has implications beyond the 2026 election season, as Iowa remains first-in-the-nation in the Republican presidential nominating cycle. Several speakers made references to potentially seeing Vance return to the state in the future.\u201cLet me say this, Mr. Vice President, you are absolutely invited to every single part of Iowa,\u201d Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird said. \u201cWe\u2019d all like to see you.\u201d Iowa Capital Dispatch is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Iowa Capital Dispatch maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Kathie Obradovich for questions: info@iowacapitaldispatch.com.\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\tDES MOINES, Iowa \u2014 \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
In his first visit to Iowa since taking office<\/a>, Vice President JD Vance told the crowd in Des Moines Tuesday reelecting Republicans such as U.S. Rep. Zach Nunn in 2026 is vital in order to support businesses, workers and U.S. citizens.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is a contest between a party that wants to take all of your money and give it to illegal aliens and a contest between gentlemen like Zach Nunn who fight every single day for you,\u201d Vance said.<\/p>\n Vance\u2019s event was officially a White House address to American workers, but it also came as an effort to support Nunn in the Iowa\u2019s 3rd Congressional District in the midterms.<\/p>\n Nunn\u2019s reelection bid, alongside U.S. Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks\u2019 campaign to keep the 1st District in Republican control, are expected to be among the most competitive U.S. House races in the 2026 election, both rated as \u201ctoss-ups\u201d by political forecasters such as Cook Political Report<\/a>.<\/p>\n The event was held at the Ex-Guard manufacturing facility in Des Moines, a business that makes grille guards for pickup and semi-trucks. Vance said reelecting Nunn is a way to help protect companies such as Ex-Guard, which he said began business in 2009 \u2014 something Vance characterized as a \u201d tough thing to do\u201d during a global recession.<\/p>\n Vance said after the business was founded, the company learned that \u201cforeign countries \u2014 in particular, the People\u2019s Republic of China \u2014 were dumping goods, undercutting the wages of the workers of this factory and driving this place out of business.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThey were using cheap labor, sometimes slave labor, to try to steal jobs from the hard-working people of this district and this factory floor,\u201d Vance said. \u201cAnd for my entire life, we had presidents and politicians of both parties who didn\u2019t do a single thing to stop (it) and said, \u2018Oh, by the way, absolutely, bring those cheap goods into our country. Bring those things that were built by the hands of slaves rather than the hands of our own workers.’\u201d<\/p>\n He said the first political movement \u201cthat said enough is enough\u201d was led by President Donald Trump.<\/p>\n Vance said he spoke with the owners of Ex-Guard before coming to the stage, and they told him the tax cuts made through the \u201cOne Big, Beautiful Bill,\u201d most of which took effect four months ago, have allowed their business to expand, give workers higher salaries and hire new employees. He said critics of Trump\u2019s tariff policies are attacking the very policies that discourage other countries from undercutting wages and taking jobs from Iowa workers.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen you hear the Democrats attack the Trump administration\u2019s tax policies, that\u2019s what they\u2019re attacking,\u201d Vance said. \u201cThey\u2019re attacking the policies that make it harder for people to steal your jobs, and they\u2019re attacking the policies that gives you more money to keep in your own pocket.\u201d<\/p>\n He said the Trump administration\u2019s economic policy, through tax cuts and efforts to \u201cbring back American manufacturing,\u201d are now making life affordable in places such as Iowa. He also criticized Democrats for opposing Republicans and the Trump administration\u2019s efforts to fight \u201ccorruption and fraud\u201d in public assistance programs.<\/p>\n Vance said progress on such issues would be halted if Democrats regain control of Congress in the 2026 midterms.<\/p>\n \u201cThe fundamental question for us in this election is actually not any specific question of public policy, it\u2019s not any particular issue,\u201d Vance said. \u201cIt\u2019s fundamentally, do you want people in Washington, D.C., who fight for you, who fight for the people of this district, or who fight for corruption and fraud?\u201d<\/p>\n The vice president highlighted issues Nunn voted on in Congress that benefited Iowans \u2014 issues, he said, that, Nunn\u2019s expected Democratic opponent would not focus on if elected. Nunn is expected to face Iowa Sen. Sarah Trone Garriott, D-West Des Moines, in the general election \u2014 a name Vance said he was having trouble finding in his notes as he spoke in support of Nunn\u2019s campaign. Neither candidate faces challengers in the June 2 primary.<\/p>\n Nunn, who introduced Vance at the event, criticized Trone Garriott in his speech while highlighting his own commitment to bipartisanship.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat I don\u2019t need is, I don\u2019t need a lecture from someone who pretends to preach from the pulpit while at the same time doing things like oversee a satanic wedding or tell Americans that they\u2019re too white and too racist, or wag their finger to say, \u2018Hey,\u2019 from the bully pulpit, \u2018most of Iowa is bigoted,’\u201d Nunn said. \u201cI don\u2019t think that\u2019s true. I still believe in the greatness of folks all across the spectrum.\u201d<\/p>\n Nunn was referencing incidents that have been repeatedly cited by Republican-backed organizations. Trone Garriott, a Lutheran minister, trained as a minister at a church in West Virginia, when the pastor who trained Trone Garriott officiated a wedding \u2014 a Christian ceremony \u2014 between two people who identified as satanists. She described this event at a Des Moines Storytellers Project<\/a> event in 2023.<\/p>\n The other comments referred to by Nunn were comments made by Trone Garriott in a YouTube video published in 2021<\/a> where she said she was drawn to run for the state senate because she \u201cjust wanted different kinds of people to be in leadership\u201d who are more representative of the diversity that exists in Iowa, saying the state Legislature is \u201cmostly white, mostly Christian, mostly older men.\u201d<\/p>\n Trone Garriott said in a statement Tuesday she was running for Congress \u201cbecause it\u2019s time someone stood up for Iowans.\u201d She criticized Nunn for aligning himself with Vance.<\/p>\n \u201cZach Nunn has voted with party leaders like J.D. Vance and special interests to close healthcare clinics in Ottumwa and South Des Moines while raising costs on everything from healthcare to gas and groceries for Iowa families,\u201d Trone Garriott said. \u201cAs a mom, minister, and state senator, I\u2019ve spent my entire life showing up for, and helping, my community, and I plan to do the same in Congress.\u201d<\/p>\n Vance was originally scheduled to appear with Nunn at an event last Thursday, and was to make another Iowa stop at Iowa State University with Turning Point USA CEO Erica Kirk. These events were rescheduled as Vance and Nunn stayed in Washington, D.C., to vote on measures including the farm bill<\/a> and a Department of Homeland Security funding bill<\/a>.<\/p>\n Notably, language to promote year-round availability of gasoline with 15% ethanol \u2014 known as E15 \u2014 was not included in the final farm bill passed by Congress. U.S. House GOP leaders have said the House Agriculture Committee will consider a measure related to year-round E15. The subject came up at the Tuesday event, as advocates wearing hats and shirts touting support for year-round E15 cheered as Vance spoke in support of the measure.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re working on it every single day, because, number one, we want viable partners to have access to more markets,\u201d Vance said. \u201cBut number two, we want everybody, all of our fellow citizens across our 50 great states, to benefit from grain right here in Iowa. That\u2019s why we\u2019re fighting for E15.\u201d<\/p>\n He said Nunn is working on this issue already in Congress, stating that \u201ca lot of our partners are struggling with high fertilizer prices\u201d tied to the war in Iran. Vance said the administration is going to \u201ctake care of some business on the foreign policy side,\u201d but said simultaneously, \u201cwe\u2019re working with the congressman, and we\u2019re finding ways every single day to make sure that you guys and the farmers in this great state get access to the products that they need.\u201d<\/p>\n The vice president\u2019s visit to Iowa has implications beyond the 2026 election season, as Iowa remains first-in-the-nation in the Republican presidential nominating cycle. Several speakers made references to potentially seeing Vance return to the state in the future.<\/p>\n \u201cLet me say this, Mr. Vice President, you are absolutely invited to every single part of Iowa,\u201d Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird said. \u201cWe\u2019d all like to see you.\u201d<\/p>\n Iowa Capital Dispatch<\/a> is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Iowa Capital Dispatch maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Kathie Obradovich for questions: info@iowacapitaldispatch.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In his first visit to Iowa since taking office, Vice President JD Vance told the crowd in Des…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":58854,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[119],"tags":[4004,35282,474,477,1390,486,34976,35287,12,35283,12102,35284,18293,35285,35286,35289,169,168,25333,34061,34060,1023,3945,22034,5796,35288,520,2195,22035],"class_list":{"0":"post-58853","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-jd-vance","8":"tag-2026-midterms","9":"tag-brenna-bird","10":"tag-business","11":"tag-congress","12":"tag-democratic-party","13":"tag-democrats","14":"tag-des-moines","15":"tag-des-moines-visit","16":"tag-donald-trump","17":"tag-e15","18":"tag-event","19":"tag-ex-guard","20":"tag-iowa","21":"tag-iowa-1st-congressional-district","22":"tag-iowa-3rd-congressional-district","23":"tag-issue-nunn","24":"tag-james-david-vance","25":"tag-jd-vance","26":"tag-kcci","27":"tag-kim-reynolds","28":"tag-mariannette-miller-meeks","29":"tag-people","30":"tag-republican-party","31":"tag-sarah-trone-garriott","32":"tag-support","33":"tag-trone-garriott","34":"tag-trump-administration","35":"tag-worker","36":"tag-zach-nunn"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@people\/116525566874174522","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58853","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=58853"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58853\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/58854"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=58853"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=58853"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=58853"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}