GOP vice presidential nominee JD Vance holds first rally in Philadelphia
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- For the first time as the vice presidential nominee on the GOP ticket, JD Vance was in Pennsylvania at an intimate setting inside the 2300 Arena in South Philadelphia.
The Ohio senator came out onstage to a standing ovation from supporters in the crowd.
"If you read his book, 'Hillbilly Elegy,' he gets us. He gets blue-collar people like Philadelphians," said Hollie McDonald from West Chester.
Hours before Harris and Walz took the stage at the Liacouras Center in North Philadelphia, Vance spoke in South Philadelphia.
And despite the heat, the excitement outside the 2300 Arena was palpable amongst Trump-Vance supporters on Tuesday.
McDonald said she's looking to "get our country back."
"It was important for me to come out today because I started my business under President Trump. Had a great four years. And then under this current president, things have gone wrong. And I almost doubt starting the businesses that I started," McDonald said. "We need more civility and I'm here to support hopefully Vice President Vance and I'm a cat lady for Vance."
Joe Dychala from Delaware County also attended, saying he was interested to know what Vance was all about.
"He's a young guy. He's untested. He's been, you know, sort of like an Obama-esque type of senator. He's been in there for a couple of years only, but he's a rags-to-riches story. He's a Marine," Dychala said. "We respect him highly for that, but we want to see what he's all about."
The Ohio senator was quick to criticize Harris.
"Kamala Harris has been such a disaster as vice president of this country that everywhere she goes chaos and uncertainty follow," Vance said.
One focus of Vance's rally surrounded the drug crisis and how issues at the border are having an impact on it.
"Every time Kamala Harris took an action to open the American southern border, it is families, like many of those who stand behind me today, who have suffered the most," he said.
Two of those families, including a couple who say they lost their daughter to an accidental overdose, shared their personal stories.
"The border travesty that this current administration has neglected, allowed and even supported is infuriating and quite frankly complete lunacy on multiple levels," Denise Trask said.
The GOP VP pick also called on the media to get Harris to sit down for an interview.
"She ought to answer for the fact she wanted to ban fracking and now she allegedly doesn't," Vance said. "She ought to answer for the fact that she wanted to defund the police. She ought to answer to the fact that she opened up the American southern border."
As for Gov. Tim Walz, Vance said he called to congratulate the Minnesota governor, and down the line, he said he would agree to debate him.
"The reason I didn't say a whole lot about Tim Walz is because the Democrats have showed a willingness to pull a little switcharoo on us," Vance said. "I don't even know if we're actually going to get Tim Walz out of this campaign."
From South Philly, Vance is heading to Detroit to speak at a campaign event on Wednesday. Former President Donald Trump is set to hold a rally in Montana on Friday.
