JD Vance. Thank you so much for talking to us on WGL Eight News. Really appreciate your time. Yeah, it’s good to be with you. Thank you. So I want to start with what’s affecting our viewers every day. And that’s, of course, the economy, Pennsylvania has been hit hardest by inflation. What’s your administration’s economic proposal? What are you offering to the American people to make everyday life more affordable again? Well, first of all, I think we have to recognize that inflation is particularly bad in Pennsylvania, particularly when it comes to groceries. The price of eggs in Pennsylvania is nearly $4. *** dozen milk is four 28 *** gallon and actually Pennsylvania for, for whatever reason has sub, has suffered worse under the grocery price inflation than almost any other state. Uh What we can do is really just unleash America’s energy markets because energy goes into everything, right? If you think about the cost of diesel goes up and the cost of getting groceries to the grocery store goes up and that means the price of food goes up for everybody. And so I think if we do *** better job of supporting our farmers and lowering the cost of energy, we can lower the price of food for everybody. We can lower the price of *** lot of other things. On top of it, one of the problems with Kamala Harris’s policies is she actually cast the tiebreaking vote on the Inflation Explosion Act which really sent prices on everything from food and housing through the roof. So you unleash American energy markets, you stop spending money, we don’t have and you’re gonna make everything more affordable for Pennsylvanians. And you brought up farmers, the agriculture trading industry, of course, is *** big business here. It’s the backbone of Pennsylvania’s economy. Now, the shape administration, they recently invested $10 million in an innovation grant program. It’s *** first of its kind to help farmers with better technology. You do to help Pennsylvania farmers. Yes. So I think it’s *** great idea. Actually, one of the things we can definitely do is make our farmers and our farms more technological, more productive that will obviously relieve some burdens on our food prices too. But also make the farmers actually make *** little bit more money, be *** little bit more stable because you know, one of the problems with farming, especially family farming is it’s such an up and down business that you have *** lot of folks who just go out of business when the corn price or some other price is too low in *** particular year. So I think we ought to be doing *** lot to make our farmers more productive. But you know what things that really worries me is that under Kamala Harris’s policies in 2023 for the very first time, we actually imported more food than we exported. That means that we consumed more food than we grew ourselves. And it’s *** real mistake to become reliant on other nations for the food that we need and that our Children need. And so I think we have to get back to some common sense pro agriculture policies. So we grow more of our own food or more self reliant. And of course, that will mean lower grocery prices for Americans. Another aspect of Pennsylvania’s agriculture industry are the migrants and immigration who work on these farms. So there are 7.3 million acres of farmland that contribute more than $132 billion to the state’s economy. But these migrants and immigrants, they feel threatened and vilified. What would happen to migrants and immigrants in Pennsylvania. How do we get workers on these farms? Well, if you talk to farmers and of course, *** lot of farmers support me and President Trump. They recognize that the border crisis is actually not helping their business. It’s not helping their farms. Now, of course, they need workers just like any other business needs workers. But I actually think that we can have *** secure southern border on the one hand, while also ensuring that our farmers have the people that they need to actually do their business. And of course, we had that under President Trump’s administration, we were *** net uh excuse me, we’re *** net exporter of food. We grew more food than we needed inflation in farming and in food was way lower than it is today. But we also had *** secure southern border. So I think in some ways we can do all of these things at once. We just have to get back to common sense leadership and saying on immigration, you know, there are 560,000 eligible Pennsylvania Latinos who can vote. There are more than 333,000 Asian American and Pacific Islanders in Lanster City is actually considered *** sanctuary city for refugees. How do you tell your Children who like mine are half South Asian, how to be proud of their identity, especially when *** world we’re kind of scared and we want to hide it. How do you save them from fears of discrimination? Well, I think I just tell my kids to be who they are and they are very proud of their Indian heritage. They’re also very proud of the Scots Irish heritage they get from their dad, but most importantly, they’re proud of being Americans. And I think it’s one of the great things about, you know, their, their mother and I’s love story is that almost could have happened anywhere else. But the United States of America. And that’s something to be proud of. Now. At the same time, you can be proud of that heritage. But also recognize that if you have *** broken border like we have right now, it’s gonna cause *** lot of problems for everybody, whether your family’s been here for one generation or 10 generations. And I really do think that we can be pro immigration and we can recognize the great contributions that immigrants have made to this country. While at the same time recognizing that if you’re allowing the Mexican drug cartels to use the southern border as *** fentaNYL trafficking zone, it’s bad for everybody, whether they’re *** new immigrant or not. And do you think you can win the presidency without Pennsylvania? I think it’s very hard, you know, it’s always, always difficult to play in the hypotheticals, but Pennsylvania is extremely important to us. It’s obviously *** beautiful state. I’ve spent *** lot of time here. It feels like *** second home *** little bit. And I’ve even got my kids on the road with me today, but we love this state. I think we’re gonna win this state and I think we’re gonna win the presidency and you’ve got the debate coming up. What’s your game plan to go up against him? W you know, just trying to study policy as much as possible. I mean, I think the American people, *** lot of, unfortunately, I think the Kamala Harris campaign sometimes talks to her fellow Americans like their Children. I think Donald Trump and I want to talk to our fellow Americans, like fellow citizens and actually talk about public policy that can make their lives better. And the fact that, you know, under Kamala Harris’s leadership, she cast the deciding vote in the inflation explosion act. She pursued *** lot of policies that opened the southern border. The reason why things aren’t going as well as they could is because of broken leadership and broken policies. So I’m gonna focus on the policy and try to convince people that we do *** better job because I know we would.
Vice presidential candidate J.D. Vance visits Pennsylvania: Discusses economy, inflation, and border security in WGAL Interview
Updated: 1:59 PM EDT Sep 23, 2024
Vice presidential candidate Sen. J.D. Vance visited Pennsylvania over the weekend, where he made stops in Reading, Berks County, and Hershey, Dauphin County.WGAL anchor Tasmin Mahfuz got a one-on-one interview with Vance. They discussed everything from the economy and inflation, to border security and whether Vance thinks he and former President Donald Trump will win Pa. You can watch the full interview above or read the full transcript below.WGAL interview with J.D. VanceMahfuz: J.D. Vance, thank you so much for talking to us on WGAL 8 News. We really appreciate your time.Vance: Yeah, it’s good to be with you. Thank you.Mahfuz: So, I want to start with what’s affecting our viewers every day, and that’s, of course, the economy. Pennsylvania has been hit hardest by inflation. What’s your administration’s economic proposal? What are you offering to the American people to make everyday life more affordable again?Vance: Yeah well, first of all, I think we have to recognize that inflation is particularly bad in Pennsylvania, particularly when it comes to groceries. The price of eggs in Pennsylvania is nearly $4 a dozen. Milk is $4.28 a gallon. It actually Pennsylvania, for whatever reason, has suffered worse under the grocery price inflation than almost any other state. What we can do is really just unleash America’s energy markets because energy goes into everything, right? If you think about the cost of diesel goes up and the cost of getting groceries to the grocery store goes up, and that means the price of food goes up for everybody. And so I think if we do a better job of supporting our farmers and lowering the cost of energy, we can lower the price of food for everybody, but we can lower the price of a lot of other things on top of it. One of the problems with Kamala Harris’ policies is she actually cast the tie-breaking vote on the inflation explosion act, which really set prices on everything from food and housing through the roof. So, you unleash American energy markets, you stop spending money we don’t have, and you’re going to make everything more affordable for Pennsylvanians.Mahfuz: And you brought up farmers. Agriculture trading industry of course is a big business here. It’s the backbone of Pennsylvania’s economy. Now, the Shapiro administration, they recently invested $10 million in an innovation grant program. It’s the first of its kind to help farmers have better technology. What would you do to help Pennsylvania farmers?Vance: Yeah. So I think it’s a great idea, actually, one of the things we can definitely do is make our farmers and our farms more technological, more productive. That will obviously relieve some burdens on our food prices, too, but also make the farmers actually make a little bit more money, be a little bit more stable, because, you know, one of the problems with farming, especially family farming, is it’s such an up-and-down business that you have a lot of folks who just go out of business when the corn price or some other price is too low in a particular year. So, I think we ought to be doing a lot to make our farmers more productive. But, you know, one of the things that really worries me is that under Kamala Harris’ policies in 2023, for the very first time, we actually imported more food than we exported. That means that we consumed more food than we grew ourselves. And it’s a real mistake to become reliant on other nations for the food that we need and that our children need. And so, I think we have to get back to some common-sense, pro-agricultural policy so that we grow more of our own food, we’re more self-reliant and, of course, that’ll mean lower grocery prices for Americans.Mahfuz: Another aspect of Pennsylvania’s agriculture industry are the migrants and immigrants who work on these farms. There are 7.3 million acres of farmland that contribute more than $132 billion to the state’s economy, but these migrants and immigrants, they feel threatened and vilified. What would happen to migrants and immigrants in Pennsylvania? How do we get workers on these farms?Vance: Well, if you talk to farmers and of course, a lot of farmers support me and President Trump, they recognize that the border crisis is actually not helping their business. It’s not helping their farms. Now, of course, they need workers, just like any other business needs workers. But I actually think that we can have a secure southern border on the one hand, while also ensuring that our farmers have the people that they need to actually do their business. And of course, we had that under President Trump’s administration, we were a net, excuse me, we’re a net exporter of food. We grew more food than we needed. Inflation in farming and in food was way lower than it is today. But we also had a secure southern border. So, I think in some ways we can do all of these things at once. We just have to get back to common-sense leadership.Mahfuz: And staying on immigration, you know, there are 560,000 eligible Pennsylvania Latinos who can vote. There are more than 333,000 Asian-American and Pacific Islanders. And Lancaster City is actually considered a sanctuary city for refugees. How do you tell your children who like mine are half South Asian how to be proud of their identity, especially when the world, we’re kind of scared and we want to hide it? How do you save them from fears of discrimination?Vance: Well, I think I just tell my kids to be who they are, and they are very proud of their Indian heritage. They’re also very proud of the Scots-Irish heritage they get from their dad. But most importantly, they’re proud of being Americans. And I think that’s one of the great things about, you know, their, their, their mother and I’s love story is that it almost couldn’t have happened anywhere else but the United States of America. And that’s something to be proud of. Now, at the same time, you can be proud of that heritage, but also recognize that if you have a broken border like we have right now, it’s going to cause a lot of problems for everybody. Whether your family’s been here for one generation or ten generations. And I really do think that we can be pro-immigration, and we can recognize the great contributions that immigrants have made to this country while at the same time recognizing that if you’re allowing the Mexican drug cartels to use the southern border as a fentanyl trafficking zone, it’s bad for everybody, whether they’re a new immigrant or not.Mahfuz: And do you think you can win the presidency without Pennsylvania?Vance: I think it’s very hard. You know, it’s always, always difficult to play in the hypotheticals. But Pennsylvania is extremely important to us. It’s obviously a beautiful state. I’ve spent a lot of time here. It feels like a second home a little bit, and I’ve even got my kids on the road with me today. But we love the state. I think we’re going to win the state, and I think we’re gonna win the presidency.Mahfuz: And you got the debate coming up. What’s your game plan to go up against Tim Walz?Vance: Well, you know, just trying to study policy as much as possible. I mean, I think the American people a lot of unfortunately, I think the Kamala Harris campaign sometimes talks to her fellow Americans like they’re children. I think Donald Trump and I want to talk to our fellow Americans like fellow citizens, and actually talk about public policy that can make their lives better. And the fact that, you know, under Kamala Harris’ leadership, she cast the deciding vote in the inflation explosion act. She pursued a lot of policies that open the southern border. The reason why things aren’t going as well as they could is because a broken leadership and broken policies. So, I’m going to focus on the policy and try to convince people that we do a better job, because I know we would.Kamala Harris, Donald Trump Pa. visitsIt’s no surprise that Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump, along with their running mates, Gov. Tim Walz and Sen. J.D. Vance, have been making frequent visits to the Keystone state. And they’re likely to make many more in the run-up to Election Day.We’re following their visits with the candidate tracker below.
Vice presidential candidate Sen. J.D. Vance visited Pennsylvania over the weekend, where he made stops in Reading, Berks County, and Hershey, Dauphin County.
WGAL anchor Tasmin Mahfuz got a one-on-one interview with Vance. They discussed everything from the economy and inflation, to border security and whether Vance thinks he and former President Donald Trump will win Pa.
You can watch the full interview above or read the full transcript below.
WGAL interview with J.D. Vance
Mahfuz: J.D. Vance, thank you so much for talking to us on WGAL 8 News. We really appreciate your time.
Vance: Yeah, it’s good to be with you. Thank you.
Mahfuz: So, I want to start with what’s affecting our viewers every day, and that’s, of course, the economy. Pennsylvania has been hit hardest by inflation. What’s your administration’s economic proposal? What are you offering to the American people to make everyday life more affordable again?
Vance: Yeah well, first of all, I think we have to recognize that inflation is particularly bad in Pennsylvania, particularly when it comes to groceries. The price of eggs in Pennsylvania is nearly $4 a dozen. Milk is $4.28 a gallon. It actually Pennsylvania, for whatever reason, has suffered worse under the grocery price inflation than almost any other state. What we can do is really just unleash America’s energy markets because energy goes into everything, right? If you think about the cost of diesel goes up and the cost of getting groceries to the grocery store goes up, and that means the price of food goes up for everybody. And so I think if we do a better job of supporting our farmers and lowering the cost of energy, we can lower the price of food for everybody, but we can lower the price of a lot of other things on top of it. One of the problems with Kamala Harris’ policies is she actually cast the tie-breaking vote on the inflation explosion act, which really set prices on everything from food and housing through the roof. So, you unleash American energy markets, you stop spending money we don’t have, and you’re going to make everything more affordable for Pennsylvanians.
Mahfuz: And you brought up farmers. Agriculture trading industry of course is a big business here. It’s the backbone of Pennsylvania’s economy. Now, the Shapiro administration, they recently invested $10 million in an innovation grant program. It’s the first of its kind to help farmers have better technology. What would you do to help Pennsylvania farmers?
Vance: Yeah. So I think it’s a great idea, actually, one of the things we can definitely do is make our farmers and our farms more technological, more productive. That will obviously relieve some burdens on our food prices, too, but also make the farmers actually make a little bit more money, be a little bit more stable, because, you know, one of the problems with farming, especially family farming, is it’s such an up-and-down business that you have a lot of folks who just go out of business when the corn price or some other price is too low in a particular year. So, I think we ought to be doing a lot to make our farmers more productive. But, you know, one of the things that really worries me is that under Kamala Harris’ policies in 2023, for the very first time, we actually imported more food than we exported. That means that we consumed more food than we grew ourselves. And it’s a real mistake to become reliant on other nations for the food that we need and that our children need. And so, I think we have to get back to some common-sense, pro-agricultural policy so that we grow more of our own food, we’re more self-reliant and, of course, that’ll mean lower grocery prices for Americans.
Mahfuz: Another aspect of Pennsylvania’s agriculture industry are the migrants and immigrants who work on these farms. There are 7.3 million acres of farmland that contribute more than $132 billion to the state’s economy, but these migrants and immigrants, they feel threatened and vilified. What would happen to migrants and immigrants in Pennsylvania? How do we get workers on these farms?
Vance: Well, if you talk to farmers and of course, a lot of farmers support me and President Trump, they recognize that the border crisis is actually not helping their business. It’s not helping their farms. Now, of course, they need workers, just like any other business needs workers. But I actually think that we can have a secure southern border on the one hand, while also ensuring that our farmers have the people that they need to actually do their business. And of course, we had that under President Trump’s administration, we were a net, excuse me, we’re a net exporter of food. We grew more food than we needed. Inflation in farming and in food was way lower than it is today. But we also had a secure southern border. So, I think in some ways we can do all of these things at once. We just have to get back to common-sense leadership.
Mahfuz: And staying on immigration, you know, there are 560,000 eligible Pennsylvania Latinos who can vote. There are more than 333,000 Asian-American and Pacific Islanders. And Lancaster City is actually considered a sanctuary city for refugees. How do you tell your children who like mine are half South Asian how to be proud of their identity, especially when the world, we’re kind of scared and we want to hide it? How do you save them from fears of discrimination?
Vance: Well, I think I just tell my kids to be who they are, and they are very proud of their Indian heritage. They’re also very proud of the Scots-Irish heritage they get from their dad. But most importantly, they’re proud of being Americans. And I think that’s one of the great things about, you know, their, their, their mother and I’s love story is that it almost couldn’t have happened anywhere else but the United States of America. And that’s something to be proud of. Now, at the same time, you can be proud of that heritage, but also recognize that if you have a broken border like we have right now, it’s going to cause a lot of problems for everybody. Whether your family’s been here for one generation or ten generations. And I really do think that we can be pro-immigration, and we can recognize the great contributions that immigrants have made to this country while at the same time recognizing that if you’re allowing the Mexican drug cartels to use the southern border as a fentanyl trafficking zone, it’s bad for everybody, whether they’re a new immigrant or not.
Mahfuz: And do you think you can win the presidency without Pennsylvania?
Vance: I think it’s very hard. You know, it’s always, always difficult to play in the hypotheticals. But Pennsylvania is extremely important to us. It’s obviously a beautiful state. I’ve spent a lot of time here. It feels like a second home a little bit, and I’ve even got my kids on the road with me today. But we love the state. I think we’re going to win the state, and I think we’re gonna win the presidency.
Mahfuz: And you got the debate coming up. What’s your game plan to go up against Tim Walz?
Vance: Well, you know, just trying to study policy as much as possible. I mean, I think the American people a lot of unfortunately, I think the Kamala Harris campaign sometimes talks to her fellow Americans like they’re children. I think Donald Trump and I want to talk to our fellow Americans like fellow citizens, and actually talk about public policy that can make their lives better. And the fact that, you know, under Kamala Harris’ leadership, she cast the deciding vote in the inflation explosion act. She pursued a lot of policies that open the southern border. The reason why things aren’t going as well as they could is because a broken leadership and broken policies. So, I’m going to focus on the policy and try to convince people that we do a better job, because I know we would.
Kamala Harris, Donald Trump Pa. visits
It’s no surprise that Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump, along with their running mates, Gov. Tim Walz and Sen. J.D. Vance, have been making frequent visits to the Keystone state. And they’re likely to make many more in the run-up to Election Day.
We’re following their visits with the candidate tracker below.
