GLENDALE, Arizona – Two weeks after being selected by Donald Trump as his vice presidential running mate, Senator JD Vance (R-Ohio) held a rally attended by thousands in Glendale. Thousands more were turned away from entering the auditorium at Arizona Christian University after waiting hours in line. Kari Lake spoke to wild cheering and standing ovations, and other speakers included Arizona Republican Party Chair Gina Swoboda, Arizona Senate President Warren Petersen (R-Gilbert) Senator Janae Shamp (R-Surprise), Turning Point USA CEO Charlie Kirk, Representative Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL-13), and Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes.
Vance began his speech, “Just over a month ago, President Trump wiped the floor with Joe Biden on the debate stage. A massive drop of the President’s mental incapacity and he saved America four more years ago.”
He noted that unlike Kamala Harris, Trump “showed up and took some tough questions” recently at the National Association of Black Journalists conference in Chicago. Trump “took a bullet for the country he loved.”
Vance described Harris as “a phony who caters to whatever audience is in front of her,” noting that in a recent speech in the South, Harris put on a “phony Southern accent.”
He said, “Joe Biden, Kamala Harris have weaponized the Department of Justice to go after their political opponents.” Vance said “they cut a deal with a dictator of Venezuela, and they offer in exchange that dictator would have free and fair elections. The Kamala Harris administration doesn’t know anything about free and fair elections.”
The Democrats and media are “gaslighting us about Kamala Harris’s radical record,” he said. “The media likes to portray her all of a sudden, she’s a sensible moderate. … She is Abraham Lincoln.” He reminded the crowd that Harris was considered the most liberal member of the U.S. Senate when she was there.
Vance went over the problems on the border, noting that “500,000 children are trafficked by Mexican drug cartels.” He said Harris “was appointed the border czar and then unleashed the worst border crisis in the history of this country. … And it wasn’t by accident. It was by design. They said when he took office, that they were going to do exactly what they did. They said they wanted to decriminalize illegal immigration and tear down Immigrations and Customs Enforcement, open up the floodgates and give illegal aliens free health care, and she wanted you, the American citizens, have paid a bill, that’s what she said.”
Due to the Biden administration’s catch and release policy, he said every state is a border state now. He said, “The media lies about that.” The crowd roared angrily and glared at the media pit.
Vance warned, “Those people ended up giving three million work permits to illegal aliens to hide, claiming asylum in this country that turns a blind eye to fraudsters destroying American jobs, union and non-union alike, and undercutting the wages of American workers. I guarantee you if the failed border czar becomes the President of the United States, she’s going to get every single illegal immigrant the right to vote.”
He slammed Harris for questioning his loyalty, pointing out that he’d served as a Marine. He said she’s the one who has committed “dereliction of duty.”
Vance brought up his humble upbringings, covered in his book Hillbilly Elegy, which was also made into a major movie. When he referenced his late grandma, a “strong woman” who raised him for much of his childhood and straightened him out in high school, the crowd began chanting, “Mama, mama!”
He concluded his speech, “She voted to preserve NAFTA, the very trade deal that sent American jobs to Mexico and turned the American dreams into nightmares. And now, she wants a promotion. Well, I think it’s time to tell Kamala Harris she’s fired.”
Lake said she was told about running for Senate, “You’re going to hate the swamp, but that’s why we need you in the swamp.” She said she doesn’t need any “lobbyist friends,” since “I got enough friends in Arizona.” She said, “Joe Biden is about living this nightmare for three and a half years.”
In typical Lake style, she blasted the mainstream media. “Turn off the fake news. … Every single voice in this room is more powerful than the people back there,” pointing at the media pit. The crowd booed loudly and glared at the media. “A million voices are way more powerful than five corporate media giants,” she said. Lake said she didn’t care whether someone was from the “pizza party” or the “pool party.”
Swoboda emphasized the role of God in people’s lives. “JD and Donald Trump are the leadership options if we want to keep faith, family, and country at the forefront of our everyday values,” she said. Petersen said the Arizona Legislature is the most conservative one in the state’s history. Shamp emphasized Trump’s concern for border security and stopping illegal immigration.
Kirk said, referencing the purpose of his organization, “I’m traveling the country to college campuses so you don’t have to.” Reyes said as chairman of the Republican Attorneys General Association, they’ve filed “well over 170 lawsuits over the past three and a half years” against the Biden administration. He said Harris wants to “defund the police,” while he wants to “defend the police.” Paulina Luna said the left is now referring to women as “chest feeders.”
The last speaker was Sarah Workman, a single mom in Arizona who is raising her son alone and working two jobs since her husband succumbed to the drug epidemic. “JD is the American dream,” she said. “His story is the American dream. It gives me hope to keep moving forward and be encouraged. All of us are encouraged because Donald Trump and JD Vance are going to make America great again.”
A lone protester stood outside in the 100 degree heat holding a sign denouncing Trump for “insurrection” and being “convicted” of sexual assault. Trump was cleared of insurrection by the Senate, and the civil verdict against him for sexual assault was not a conviction.
A significant number of Secret Service agents visibly surrounded the stage, and a large SWAT vehicle parked near the entrance. The heightened security was likely in response to the attempted assassination of Trump in Pennsylvania earlier in the month.
– – –
Rachel Alexander is a reporter at The Arizona Sun Times and The Star News Network. Follow Rachel on X / Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
