The Republican 2024 candidates are positioning themselves as champions of the working class—a voting bloc that has traditionally voted for Democrats.
PHILADELPHIA—Former President Donald Trump and his running mate are promising to “unleash” American energy and manufacturing as part of their appeal to working-class voters who will decide on the next U.S. president in November.
During their latest visit to Pennsylvania on Aug. 19, Trump and Republican vice-presidential nominee Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio) campaigned separately at local factories; the candidates pledged to enact policies that will support those businesses.
“Unleashing American energy will reduce prices, launch record-setting economic growth, create millions and millions of jobs, and produce higher wages for the American worker,” Trump told an audience at Precision Custom Components in York, Pennsylvania. That 150-year-old company has produced parts for atomic energy plants and for the famous Hoover Dam along the Colorado River, Trump said.
During his speech, Trump vowed to block the Japanese company Nippon Steel from purchasing one of the nation’s best-known steel manufacturers, the Pittsburgh-based U.S. Steel. “I will stop Japan from buying United States Steel,” Trump said. “They shouldn’t be allowed to buy it.”
The former president reiterated his pledge to cut energy costs by 50 percent for American families and businesses within about a year if he regains the White House.
“With your vote, we will unleash explosive economic growth and vast new prosperity for all of our citizens. We will put more money into your pockets,” Trump said, adding, “You can’t be a manufacturing powerhouse unless you have low-cost energy.”
Vance spoke to about 300 people who gathered at DiSorb Systems Inc., a Philadelphia company that makes medical-waste treatment products.
The Republican vice-presidential nominee said he and Trump would “cancel these ridiculous regulations” that hobble energy production and impede factories. Specifically, Trump said he would abolish a current federal rule clamping down on power-plant emissions. He called the rule “a disaster for our country.”
Courting ‘Disaffected Democrats’
Vance later explained how he and Trump hope to attract dissatisfied Democrats, especially in Pennsylvania and other Rust Belt states that could prove pivotal in the Nov. 5 election.
“We have to make an argument that, with better policies and smarter policies, you can bring back manufacturing jobs,” he said in response to a question from The Epoch Times while aboard his “Trump Force Two” campaign aircraft. “You can give people a better standard of living.”
A lot of “disaffected Democrats” believe strongly that America should produce more essential goods, Vance said. “More than any president of my lifetime, at the very least, President Trump really has connected with American manufacturing workers and has a set of policies that work to bring a lot of those manufacturing jobs back,” he added.
Why Pennsylvania Matters
The Keystone State is among a handful of states where a small margin of victory by either party is likely to determine the presidential election. Pennsylvania carries 19 of the 538 Electoral College votes, and a candidate needs to win 270 of those votes to secure the presidency.
When all polls are averaged, Trump holds a slight edge over Harris in Pennsylvania and four other battleground states: Arizona, Georgia, Nevada, and North Carolina. Harris was ahead of Trump by 1 percent in Wisconsin and 2 percent in Michigan, RealClear politics says.
However, all those leads are within the margin of error for most polls, leaving the race a statistical tie.
Meeting With Working People
While Democrats are holding their convention in Chicago this week, the Republican presidential and vice-presidential nominees are campaigning in battleground states.
As Vance enters his second month as the GOP’s official vice-presidential nominee, he is demonstrating an ability to relate to working-class people, observed Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.), who traveled with Vance on his plane Aug. 19.
Vance mingled with the locals who were lined up to eat and the restaurant staff members.
“I think you saw today his ability to connect with voters in places like Pennsylvania and Michigan and Wisconsin; those are going to be really critical states,” Schmitt told The Epoch Times after Vance’s plane landed in Hebron, Kentucky, near Vance’s Cincinnati home.
Schmitt said Vance’s relatability might come from his background. Although Vance graduated from Yale Law School, he came from a poor Ohio family with Kentucky roots.
“He’s a great messenger, and so I’m just proud to support him and proud to support President Trump,” Schmitt said.
Voters are pretty adept at sensing when a politician is phony or genuine, Schmitt said, adding: “One currency you have is, I think, authenticity, and I think JD has got that, and it showed today.”
The Haley Factor
Responding to a question from another member of the traveling press, Vance entertained the notion that Trump’s former Republican opponent, former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, could join him and Trump on the campaign trail.
“Ambassador Haley is certainly welcome on this plane and welcome to campaign with us whenever we do events,” Vance said.
Haley and Trump were locked in some bitter battles during the Republican primary election season. But after her withdrawal, she threw her support to Trump.
election night party in Charleston, S.C., on Feb. 24, 2024. (Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images; Sean Rayford/Getty Images)” width=”640″ height=”427″ class=”cursor-pointer object-cover”>“She recognizes that his policies will lead to lower prices, more economic prosperity, and peace across the world,” Vance said.
As a former ambassador, Haley “cares a lot about American foreign policy,” Vance said. Policies enacted under President Joe Biden and his vice president, Harris, “have made the country much less safe, and the world much, much more chaotic,” Vance said.
“And as the campaign really ramps up just to make that post-Labor Day push, when most people pay attention, I‘d love to have the ambassador,” Vance said. “We’ll see what happens.”
Reuters contributed to this story.
