GOP Vice Presidential nominee J.D. Vance badmouthed Vice President Kamala Harris in front of her Air Force Two plane and then ran away as her ground transportation arrived, TMZ reported.
Vance approached reporters on the tarmac in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, as both political candidates were scheduled for appearances. Along with members of his campaign and Secret Service members, Vance stopped directly in front of the Air Force Two plane, which he said “will hopefully” belong to him in a few months, to see if the press were getting lonely since Harris won’t take questions. “I also thought you guys might get lonely since the Vice President doesn’t answer questions from reporters and hasn’t for 17 days,” Vance said.
He then asked reporters if they had any explanation as to why. Once no one responded, he said he thought it would “be good for the American people” if Harris would take questions and run a “real campaign” instead of doing it from a teleprompter. After a reporter asked him what exactly he wanted from the VP, Vance took the opportunity to get things off his chest. “I want her to answer a question. I’d love for her to tell us what she wants to do and explain why every single position she’s had has changed,” he said.
The Ohio state senator then inaccurately unloaded on Harris’s record. “She pretends to be a tough-on-crime prosecutor,” he said, followed by touching on her border patrol policies.
Senator JD Vance’s campaign plane and Air Force Two (VP Kamala Harris’s plane) were on the tarmac in Wisconsin at the same time.
Vance walked over to Air Force Two telling reporters he wanted to see what his future plane would look like.
He also said he wanted to say hi to… pic.twitter.com/a7AxDsGhG5
— Yashar Ali
(@yashar) August 7, 2024
It was likely that the two politicians would bump into each other, since they were in the same place at the same time, however, according to The Associated Press, Vance said he didn’t get a chance to speak with Harris, but he did see her as she drove away. “I had a little bit of fun,” Vance said. “I don’t think the vice president waved at me as she drove away.”
While it’s common for opposing candidates to cross paths during a general election campaign, people on social media think that Vance is stalking Harris, comparing him to when former President Donald Trump was campaigning against Hillary Clinton in 2016. “Reminds me of when Trump stalked Hillary onstage at their debate. Super creepy and weird,” @crazyfenaker said.
The term “weird” has been used over and over again when describing the vice presidential nominee. For some users, his comments about the plane made it seem like he was more interested in the perks of the White House than doing the work. “Sounds like he’s more interested in turbulence than leadership,” another user said.
As the presidential candidates are still waiting to schedule a debate, Vance said he is still willing to debate Harris on Aug. 13, which was scheduled before Harris became the presumptive Democratic nominee, “if she’d like to do a debate with me.”
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