Vice President JD Vance had a clear message for Florida Democratic Senate nominee Angie Nixon and her fellow socialist lawmakers: Leave the country if you’re unhappy.
While campaigning with Rep. Byron Donalds (R-FL) and Sen. Ashley Moody (R-FL) in Florida on Thursday afternoon, Vance issued his blunt message publicly.
“Ladies and gentlemen, when Angie Nixon calls herself a socialist, I think the right response is to say: ‘Then get the hell out of here. You don’t belong in America if those are your views,’” Vance told the crowd gathered at the Sun ‘n Fun hangar at Lakeland Linder International Airport.
The vice president also blasted Nixon, who is in an uphill race to defeat Moody, for supporting defunding the police and abolishing prisons.
“Now, how she squares that with her other favorite demand, which is to arrest President Donald Trump, it’s hard to say,” Vance said. “It’s kind of a good news, bad news situation. She wants to arrest the president, but she wants to … abolish the prison. So, I don’t know what she’s doing.”
Republicans are in a difficult midterm cycle as concerns about the economy, gas prices, and the Iran war are top of mind for voters. The Trump administration and key allies are increasing their campaign schedule to help save the GOP’s majorities in Congress.
A St. Pete Polls survey conducted for Florida Politics released this month showed Moody with a slight edge over Nixon, 45.2% to 44.8%, among likely general election voters. The same poll showed Donalds virtually tied with Democrat David Jolly, 43.5% to 43.4%, in the race for Florida governor.
The Cook Political Report recently changed the state’s gubernatorial rating from likely Republican to lean Republican as a result of the tough climate.
“Trump is heading to his adopted home state to stump for Donalds and Republicans — another potential sign of growing worries for the congressman who’s trying to become the first Black Republican elected governor in U.S. history,” Jessica Taylor wrote in her analysis of the race for Cook. “The closer-than-expected polls come even as Donalds and his allies have outspent Jolly by 27 to one.”
Cook still rates Florida’s Senate seat as solid Republican.
Vance dismissed any concerns that the Florida governorship or U.S. senate could be in jeopardy.
“If we tell the truth about Angie Nixon, the people of Florida are going to kick her to the curb and send Ashley Moody to Washington,” Vance said. “Not to be outdone, Byron Donalds has got a real gem running against him, David Jolly. Almost too easy, ladies and gentlemen. I have the easiest job in the world. I get to talk about how crazy the Democrats are.”
During his speech, Vance was twice interrupted by protesters who were booed by the crowd and promptly escorted out.
“We got a clown over here, ladies and gentlemen,” Vance said, downplaying the first interruption. “You always have to laugh at these protesters because that guy, you know, he pretends like he just broke out into an emotional protest, but he made sure to bring a cellphone.”
Vance predicted that Florida voters would vote out Democrats in a similar fashion to removing the protesters.
“This is not a representative voter from the state of Florida,” Vance said. “That guy is a Democrat plant who wants — he wants to raise your taxes and release illegal aliens on the streets of Florida. Well, we kicked him out, just like we’re going to kick out the rest of the Democrats who want to do the exact same thing.”
During the second protester’s interruptions, Vance stressed the difference between Democrats and Republicans on issues such as policing and education.
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“Now, what that woman is yelling is that she wants left-wing bureaucrats in control of your schools, but Byron thinks you ought to be in control of your kids’ schools,” he said. “And just like Ashley, Byron is always going to stand up for Florida law enforcement.”
To further drive home his message that the Sunshine State won’t abandon the Trump administration, Vance also declared in his remarks that “If anybody was unsure, I would say by the turnout today, it seems very obvious that Florida is MAGA country.”