After weeks of talk about childless women campaigning, Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio), the GOP vice presidential nominee, spoke to a group of conservative mothers Tuesday during a town hall meeting in Montgomery County.
He told more than 200 people gathered at Union League Liberty Hill in Lafayette that a vote for him and former President Donald Trump, the GOP presidential nominee, would be a vote for better grocery prices, better schools and greater public safety. And he asked them to spread the news.
“Moms are the best ambassadors to say, ‘Listen, don’t believe the lies you’ve heard about these guys,'” he said.
He was the organizer of the meeting We have for Americaa conservative community organization founded in 2004 in Vance’s home state. The organization states on its website that its mission is “to empower moms, promote freedom and raise patriots to heal America from the inside.”
The organization should not be confused with Moms for Liberty, which was founded in 2021. Although the two organizations share similar, far-right values and have collaborated on events, its leadership says Moms for America has broader goals than Moms for Liberty.
“Moms for Liberty focuses heavily on school officials,” said Maria Wagner, executive support manager at Moms for America. “This is one of our initiatives, but we have many others.”
Wagner said Moms for America develops educational materials and hosts webinars on topics she believes concern mothers, such as cybersecurity, human trafficking and “transgenderism.” . The organization also has a lobbying arm called Moms for America Action, which rates members of Congress on how they vote on issues they believe are significant to mothers, endorses candidates and holds town hall meetings like the one held in Tuesday evening.
“This is a truly important evening,” said Moms for America founder, president and CEO Kimberly Fletcher.
“The vast majority of conservative women of faith do not vote. Most are not even registered to vote. And thousands of mothers in Latino and Black communities vote against their values in every election without even realizing it.”
The Democratic National Committee condemned Vance’s appearance at Tuesday’s event, calling on Moms for America “extremist group that sponsored the January 6 rally.” DNC spokesman Alex Floyd said in a statement: “This kind of dangerous pandering to far-right extremists may appeal to a would-be authoritarian like Trump who threatens to use the military against the American people, but it is a slap in the face to voters who are fed up with reckless attempts to undermine our democracy and disrespect for the rule of law under the Trump-Vance mandate.”
Vice President Kamala Harris called Moms for America an “anti-choice” group during her campaign.
“Trump and Vance’s Project 2025 agenda would be a disaster for Pennsylvania women, from banning abortion nationwide – including in Pennsylvania – to threatening access to in vitro fertilization and contraception,” she added. Harris campaign spokesman Onotse Omoyeni said in a written statement. “There is only one way to stop him: make our voices heard at the ballot box and unite behind Vice President Kamala Harris, who will protect our freedoms, lower costs and be a president for every American.”
Vance’s appearance at the town hall meeting – two hours tardy – was the second Trump campaign town hall meeting in the affluent suburban Philadelphia county in as many days. Trump called a town hall meeting Monday at the Oaks, which was interrupted after two participants fainted. Trump ended the event by playing music and dancing on stage for about 30 minutes.
In both major parties’ presidential campaigns, suburbs, and especially suburban women, are key to victory. Suburban women helped Trump win the 2016 presidential electionAND charged him in 2020.
There has been a lot of campaigning in the Philadelphia suburbs over the last few days. While Trump and Vance focused on Montgomery County, Democrat Kamala Harris’ campaign is scheduled to visit three suburban counties before the end of the week.
Second Mr. Doug Emhoff accompanied by a miniature entourage of stars, he spoke to Jewish voters in Montgomery County and fathers of girls in Delaware Countyy on Sunday. Gwen Walz, wife of Minnesota’s Democratic vice presidential candidate, Gov. Tim Walz, spoke to voters in Delaware County on Monday. On Tuesday, First Lady Jill Biden campaigned for Harris in Montgomery County. Harris is scheduled to visit rural Bucks County on Wednesday.
AND nationwide KFF survey showed that suburban women voters are most concerned about inflation, threats to democracy and access to abortion. More localized Philadelphia Inquirer/New York Times/Siena College Poll Pennsylvania voters added immigration to the list. On Tuesday, Vance only touched on two of those topics: inflation and immigration.
“The best thing we can do to lower prices is to elect Donald J. Trump,” Vance said.
Trump promised that “inflation will disappear completely” if elected. Most economists disagree, and neither do the 16 economists who recently won the Nobel Prize signed the letter expressing concern that Trump’s economic policies could worsen inflation.
Vance said most people “underestimate the impact energy prices have on everything else.” He said farmers and manufacturers must charge more for their goods if they have to spend more on gas to transport them.
So the most significant thing the government can do to curb inflation, Vance said, is “exercise, baby, exercise.”
He also said the government must “stop spending trillions of dollars it doesn’t have” because it will make “the dollars in our pockets mean less.”
Vance said the government must specifically change how it spends money on education and immigration.
He argued that “curriculum money is being spent on radical ideas about gender, not drug prevention.” There is no evidence for this.
He also said the government must continue building a wall along the border with Mexico so it can focus its efforts on helping immigrants legally obtain citizenship, rather than policing immigrants who are here without the proper documents.
Vance has previously said the government needs to put more effort into deporting immigrants who are violent criminals. On Tuesday, he said the government must also raise efforts to arrest and imprison citizens who are violent criminals. To achieve this, he said, the government must provide law enforcement officers with higher pay and better benefits.
