Northeast
Vance speculates why Pennsylvania is trending red, warns battleground not to trust Harris on manufacturing
Republican vice presidential candidate Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, on Thursday speculated that the reason Pennsylvania is trending red could be related to former President Trump’s proposal on tariffs, warning that voters in the battleground shouldn’t trust Vice President Kamala Harris’ promise to revive American manufacturing.
“This is where President Trump gets the most criticism, but it’s also where President Trump is the most right,” Vance said at a campaign stop in Pittsburgh, referencing Trump’s plan to implement tariffs as a way to discourage imports and drive domestic production. Harris has criticized the plan as risking price hikes.
“If you are a business, and you rely on foreign slave labor at $3 a day, the only way to rebuild American manufacturing is to say, if you want to bring that product made by slave labor back into the United States of America, you’re going to pay a big fat tariff before you get it back into our country,” Vance said.
“My message to Pennsylvanians: don’t trust anybody, especially Kamala Harris, when she tells you she’s going to rebuild American manufacturing without forcing the Chinese to pay a tariff,” he continued, speaking to voters in the critical swing state. “There is no way to do it unless you’re fighting hard against the people who are stealing our jobs and stealing our manufacturing industries, you got to do it. And if you’re not doing it, you’re not serious about rebuilding the American middle class.”
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Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, speaks at a campaign event at The Pennsylvanian in Pittsburgh on Thursday. (AP Photo/Rebecca Droke)
Vance was responding to a reporter’s question about what county in Pennsylvania the Trump campaign would turn to first to determine whether they won the election.
“I’m not much of a political prognosticator. The only prognostication I’ll make is that Pennsylvania is going to make Donald Trump the next President of the United States,” Vance said. “I really do believe that.”
Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, speaks at a campaign event in Pittsburgh on Thursday. (AP Photo/Rebecca Droke)
“If you look at the early voting numbers, if you look at how much redder Pennsylvania has gotten in just the last couple of years, we are going to win this race so long as we work for it over the next 19 days,” Trump’s running mate added. “I really do believe that.”
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Vance credited Pennsylvania’s tradition of world-renowned steel manufacturing and craftsmanship, saying the country has unfortunately “gotten way too far away from self-reliance.”
Supporters listen to Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, speak at a campaign event at The Pennsylvanian in Pittsburgh on Thursday. (AP Photo/Rebecca Droke)
The senator turned vice presidential pick said he believes Trump’s message is resonating in Pennsylvania more than Republicans from 20 years ago had because of the 45th president’s belief in “making things in America and stamping more products with the incredible label ‘Made in the USA.’”
Citing a statistic he said “scares the hell out of me,” Vance said China has 32% of world manufacturing GDP, meaning 32% of the goods made worldwide are made there, compared to just 18% made in the U.S.
“That means China makes more stuff — I’m talking about the pharmaceuticals that we put into the bodies of our children, some of the important weapons systems of the future, the computer chips,” he said. “We’ve got to make more of our own stuff in the United States of America. And the way to do that is to lower regulations, lower energy costs for American businesses, and to rebuild the great American middle class.”
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UNION, New Jersey (WABC) — A 20-year-old man is charged with the deadly mass shooting that caused chaos at a Chick-fil-A in New Jersey.
Jaheed Fields of Newark is facing several charges including murder and attempted murder.
On April 11, Fields opened fire inside the Chick-fil-A on Route 22 in Union. A 23-year-old man was killed and six others were hurt. Customers inside the restaurant went scrambling for the exits.
So far, no motive for the shooting has been revealed.
Witnesses say they heard at least seven shots piercing into the crowd.
Longtime customers said they were shaken by the violence.
“That’s what’s terrifying, being a father or a parent, you have to always be vigilant and keep your head on a swivel and make sure that you’re paying attention to your surroundings and try to avoid getting yourself into a situation and unfortunately coming to a Chick-fil-A at dinner time is apparently a situation you may have to avoid now a days,” customer Christopher Devido said.
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Pennsylvania
Could a gas tax holiday be imposed in Pennsylvania as prices at the pump continue to rise?
PENNSYLVANIA (WJAC) — Discussion continues about potentially suspending the Pennsylvania gas tax, one of the highest state gas taxes in the country, as prices at the pump continue to jump.
Lawmakers in both chambers are considering a gas tax holiday that would remove Pennsylvania’s gas tax for a limited period. The Senate proposal would last 60 days, while the House version would run for six months. Supporters say the move would provide needed help for people across the state, while opponents argue it is not sustainable.
The proposals would save drivers about 57 cents per gallon on gasoline and about 75 cents per gallon on diesel from the state gas tax.
Representatives of the Democratic senator Lisa Boscola, who proposed the Senate bill and is from the Lehigh area, said they will continue pushing the measure they believe is needed by families around the state and are optimistic it will pass.
In the House, the effort is mostly being pushed by Republicans, though local Republican Rep. Jim Rigby said he does not support it because it is “not a real solution.”
Democratic Rep. Paul Takac agrees, saying state police and PennDOT road work are funded through the gas tax, and that suspending it would essentially defund both, and they would have to find money to fill those voids. Takac added that he has not heard any serious intention to move the bill forward.
Democratic Rep. Frank Burns said he believes that if the proposal came to a vote, a gas tax holiday would pass with bipartisan support and would provide at least a small break to struggling families.
The debate continues as gas prices continue rising, with another jump in the last week.
Chief economist Gbenga Ajilore of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities says prices are unlikely to fall soon.
“It seems like gas prices are going to go up, and even if there’s some sort of resolution in say the next couple weeks, it’s going to be difficult to see prices go down anytime soon,” Ajilore said.
The Senate is back in session on Monday and for the next few days after that, but not again until June. If the gas tax holiday is going to move forward anytime soon, that is when it would likely happen.
In the House, the proposal would need to clear the Democratic-led Transportation Committee before it could go to a vote.
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