TUCSON, Ariz. (CN) — Under the blistering Tucson sun, Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance rallied a crowd of at least 250 to cast their votes on Nov. 5 — or earlier.
In a 25-minute speech Wednesday afternoon outside the Tucson Speedway, just south of Arizona’s second-largest city, Vance and others encouraged the star-spangled crowd to vote early by mail — something former President Donald Trump condemned as unreliable and susceptible to fraud in his 2020 campaign. Trump lost to Biden by 11,000 votes in Arizona.
“The best way to make sure your count is voted is to make sure it’s counted early,” Vance told the crowd.
It was Vance’s third visit to Arizona since Trump tapped him for the GOP ticket in July. Vance spent most of the short speech lamenting illegal immigration, blaming “border czar” Vice President Kamala Harris for the increased influx of migrants over the last four years.
“American children have had their schools overrun by thousands of people who don’t even speak English,” Vance said to various boos and jeers from the crowd.
He went on to repeat the same misleading claim he aired during his debate against Democratic candidate Governor Tim Walz, and since then fact-checked by AP, that “320,000 children have gone missing thanks to the wide-open border.”
In fact, Homeland Security data from August showed nearly 300,000 unaccompanied migrant children who crossed the border from 2018 to 2023 hadn’t yet received a notice to appear in court, and another 32,000 children received a notice but didn’t show up to court. “This is not a ‘missing kids’ problem; it’s a ‘missing paperwork’ problem,” Jonathan Beier, associate director of research and evaluation for the Acacia Center for Justice’s Unaccompanied Children Program, told AP.
Vance also claimed without evidence that emergency room wait times across the nation have skyrocketed because of the influx of migrants, and that Democratic candidate Harris is providing them with free housing, possibly referring to Arizona’s Refugee Resettlement Program that helps find housing for those seeking asylum.
He offered a warning, to be heeded if he and Trump are elected in 27 days: “Pack your bags, because in four months you’re going home.”
The sentiment was echoed by Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Whatley, who addressed the crowd just before Vance and touted Trump’s plan to create the “largest deportation program in the country’s history.”
To kick off his speech, Vance played a clip from Harris’ recent interview on The View. Asked what she would do differently from President Joe Biden, who dropped out of the race in July under mounting pressure from Democratic leaders, Harris says, “There is not a thing that comes to mind.”
“She is not the candidate of change. She is the candidate of more of the same,” Vance told the Arizona crowd.
He blamed Harris personally for the southern border fentanyl crisis and rising crime across the state. “It is Kamala Harris’ fault that this country is not doing as well as it should.”
The majority of fentanyl coming across the border, however, is coming on the backs of American citizens and via air mail — not from illegal immigrants. And statistics show that migrants commit violent crime at far lower rates than U.S. citizens.
Vance’s messaging, however loose with the facts, was on target for voters at the rally. Several people outside told Courthouse News that border security was the most important issue to them.
Clint Wright, a team leader of “Trump Force 47,” a group of volunteer neighborhood organizers, complained that the influx of people into Arizona had led to higher rent prices.
Tucson resident Melanie Gunthrie, who said Vance is a close friend of her father’s, said she knows people who fear they will lose their jobs to migrant workers. “That has yet to completely play out,” she said. “But we know what’s coming.”
Before Vance took the stage, Republican state Representative Lupe Diaz of Benson, Arizona, casted the race as a spiritual battle for the soul of America.
“Dark spiritual forces are seeking to ruin our lives,” Diaz told the crowd. “The Trump and Vance team will build on a Christian worldview like our founding fathers did before.
“Are we gonna win?” Diaz asked. “Yes!” the crowd shouted in unison. “Amen!” Diaz replied.
Soon after the event concluded around 12:45 p.m., Vance hit the road to Mesa, Arizona, where he was scheduled to give another campaign speech at 3 p.m.
By the time Vance finished speaking, the temperature had crept up to 103 degrees. “I usually like to speak for about an hour,” Vance said, “but it’s hot out here.”