JD Vance Says He’ll Be Visiting Pennsylvania ‘Often’ and Plans to Eat a Philadelphia Cheesesteak

Senator JD Vance said he plans to be “in Pennsylvania a lot, taking our message across the state” as he visited Philadelphia for the second time this month on Monday.

“Pennsylvania is an incredibly important state to me and President Trump,” Vance said during a visit to DiSorb Systems, a medical waste management company in North Philadelphia.

The visit was Vance’s third to Pennsylvania since joining former President Donald Trump on the Republican ticket. Trump, who was last in the state Saturday for a rally in Wilkes-Barre, was also scheduled to speak in York on Monday afternoon, emphasizing Pennsylvania’s importance as a key swing state. Meanwhile, Vice President Kamala Harris and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz campaigned in western Pennsylvania on Sunday ahead of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago.

Before leaving town, Vance also stopped for a cheesesteak at Pat’s King of Steaks in South Philadelphia.

In a speech at DiSorb Systems lasting less than 30 minutes, Vance told the Philadelphia crowd that he and Trump want to emphasize manufacturing and energy policy.

“This is a state with a proud energy tradition, a proud manufacturing tradition,” Vance said. “We believe that as we make more things in America, Pennsylvania workers and families will benefit.”

Vance said Trump would “free Pennsylvania energy workers.”

His comments came after Trump criticized Harris’ record on fracking.

During Saturday’s rally, Trump said his opponent had been “completely anti-fracking,” “anti-drilling, anti-oil and gas basically since the day she was born” — until Harris changed her stance.

Harris has changed her mind on fracking, a major industry in Pennsylvania. In 2019, Harris supported a ban on fracking but withdrew the issue after becoming President Joe Biden’s vice presidential candidate. She no longer supports a drilling ban.

“We’re going to drill, baby, drill,” Vance said Monday of fracking plans under the next Trump administration.

While the predominantly white crowd that filled the hall wasn’t as red-faced as some Trump rallies, many attendees wore Trump hats or T-shirts. Some attendees wore T-shirts supporting other Pennsylvania GOP candidates, such as Senate candidate Dave McCormick and congressional candidate Neil Young.

Nick Passino, a native of upstate New York who campaigned in Pennsylvania as part of a trio calling themselves the “MAGA Boyz,” said Vance “embodies the American dream.”

Another attendee, 72-year-old Dominic Durinzi, said the visit to Philadelphia was crucial to Vance because he is a “very young person.”

“We support a ticket that supports America and American manufacturing, and that’s Trump-Vance,” said Durinzi, who lives in Burlington County and works for Deval Life Cycle. The company’s CEO spoke at the event before Vance took the stage.

Vance also attacked Walz several times.

He attacked Walz’s Military Service Historywhich has become a theme of the Trump campaign since Walz was selected as Harris’ vice presidential running mate.

“Before the campaign ends, Tim Walz will tell the story of carrying an M-16 rifle through the jungle of Vietnam,” Vance said.

Vance and Walz are both veterans, but neither saw combat. Vance spent four years in the Marine Corps, and Walz spent 24 years in the National Guard.

Vance also suggested that Walz, who has proposed the vice presidential debate on CBS on Oct. 1 — even though the network extended an invitation — said he is confident the event “will be a good thing for Democrats.”

“But who cares, because I respect the American people standing up to a hostile media,” Vance said.

Vance also doubled down on his claims that he had proposed a vice presidential debate in September on CNN. Walz has not yet publicly agreed to that debate, and CNN has not confirmed or denied that one is in the works.

David Pearson, 67, of West Mount Airy, said he doesn’t know much about Vance and hadn’t heard of it until recently, but he likes what he’s heard. He said the choice of location seemed to speak to “promoting business in underserved areas like this.”

“It’s an important message, especially for Republicans, to get across,” said Pearson, a Republican. commission member and legal adviser to the 22nd District of Philadelphia.

Following the event, Harris’ campaign focused on Vance’s response to a question about the federal minimum wage. Vance said that work visas for undocumented people are the cause of low wages, regardless of what the minimum wage is, and that the best way to raise wages is to have a “tight labor market” in which employers pay well to attract workers.

“Donald Trump and J.D. Vance spend too much time fawning over their billionaire cronies and corporate mega-donors — which is probably why they think $7.25 an hour is enough to survive,” said Harris campaign spokesman Ammar Moussa. “… Vice President Harris has a different vision — which is why her economic agenda is focused on lowering costs and creating opportunity for ordinary Americans.”

Carolyn Bunny Welsh, a Republican delegate attending the event, said it was crucial for Trump and Vance to visit majority-Democratic Philadelphia — which she called the “belly of the beast” and a place “Republicans traditionally don’t go.”

“Both Trump and JD Vance have shown that they will do anything to spread their message,” he said. Welsh, a former Chester County sheriff who pleaded guilty in 2021 and waived her right to stand trial on theft charges she faced while serving in that position.

She said Vance’s visit to “a neighborhood that feels a little impoverished and maybe not very successful” brought “a message of hope.”