PEORIA, Ariz. — Republican Vice Presidential nominee JD Vance made his third stop in battleground Arizona in recent weeks. Tuesday, he made a speech to hundreds of supporters at TYR Tactical, a tactical gear manufacturer in Peoria.
His speech focused heavily on the Arizona economy, speaking to a crowd filled with largely senior citizens who live in the West Valley. 12News spoke with attendees who said it's their number one issue.
“I'm on a fixed income, and the groceries, everything has gone up in price. I can't handle it," Bob Pilling from Sun City said.
Ahead of Vance's speech, Pilling hoped the VP nominee would touch on specific items from the Trump/Vance agenda.
“Drill, drill, baby, drill," Pilling said, referring to Trump's promise to drill for more petroleum and gasoline here in America. “I hope he touches on the fact that we don't give away college education. They sign the debt. Now pay it," Pilling said.
Reports show the Arizona economy is not in terrible shape. Arizona's unemployment rate has been steadily declining to 3.5 percent presently. The Consumer Price Index has also dropped by 10 percent since August 2022, to 2.3 percent in August, 2024, according to the U.S Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Despite this, 12News asked Senator Vance the following question about how to lower costs for everyday Arizonans:
12News: "When these folks hear rising inflation, what do you think is causing rising inflation? And what tangible steps will the Trump/Vance administration do to lower it for all the folks in this room?"
Vance Full Response:
"First of all, I really appreciate that question, because the number one issue on the minds of Americans is how to make life more affordable again, and that question goes right to the heart of it. I hate to say it, but so many of your colleagues in the media are obsessed with talking about what happened four years ago or some fake scandal. The job of the media is to educate the American people on the issues that matter most by asking good questions. So I appreciate asking about an issue the American people talk about. So here, here's, here's the big thing. Okay, we have two major drivers of inflation over the last three and a half years. And as much as Kamala Harris brags and says, inflation is over. Do any of us in this room feel like inflation is over? No, because it's not two big things.
"Number one, when the government prints trillions of dollars, that makes the dollars that we all have less worth it, right? They become more and more worthless the more and more the government prints. Well, why is the government printing trillions and trillions and trillions of dollars? Because Kamala Harris cast the deciding vote on trillions and trillions of dollars in new spending. So Donald Trump, when we're in the White House, we're going to focus on America as a federal government living within its means. We're not going to print as much money, and we're going to make life more affordable for American citizens in the process. That's the number one thing that we can do.
"But here's the second thing, right? And I think a lot of people don't realize that the cost of energy is an important part of the cost of everything. Think about it. If the truck driver who's delivering the groceries to the grocery store is paying 45% more for diesel, and he is under Kamala Harris's leadership, then we're all paying more for groceries. If the guy delivering the lumber to the job site is paying 50% more for gasoline, then we're all paying more for housing. So if we want to lower prices for American citizens, we have got to unleash the American energy economy. We got to be energy-dominant. That's the best way to lower prices for all of us. So look, the President Trump plan is very simple. We're going to drill, baby drill. We're going to stop printing money we don't have, and that is going to make the American Dream affordable for American citizens."
In response to Vance's visit to Peoria, the Harris-Walz campaign released a statement on some of the Trump/Vance economic plans:
"JD Vance has shown time and again that he’ll do whatever Trump tells him, pushing his extreme and dangerous Project 2025 agenda that would give him the power to ban abortion nationwide and rip away health care from 1.4 million Arizonans. Just yesterday a new, nonpartisan report found that their agenda will cause Social Security, which our seniors rely on, to run out in six years. Arizonans are looking for leaders who will stand up for their families—not sell them out. It’s time to finally turn the page on Trump’s extreme and harmful agenda and elect Vice President Kamala Harris and Governor Tim Walz to chart a new way forward."
-- James Martin, Arizona Coordinated Campaign Rapid Response Director