While President Donald Trump has struggled to settle on a way to address Americans’ concerns about high costs, Vice President JD Vance on Thursday offered a more direct and empathetic message, saying, “We hear you” and “there’s a lot more work to do.”
But the American people need to have “a little bit of patience,” Vance said in remarks at an event hosted by Breitbart News.
The vice president’s remarks come as the White House grapples with how to speak to voters about the cost of living, an issue that emerged as a vulnerability for Republicans in this month’s off-year elections in New Jersey and Virginia gubernatorial races.
Vance said the Trump administration has “made incredible progress” in tackling cost-of-living concerns as they worked to undo policies from former President Joe Biden.
“As much progress as we’ve made, it’s going to take a little bit of time for every American to feel that economic boom, which we really do believe is coming. We believe that we’re on the front end of it,” Vance said.
Trump, whose tariffs have contributed to higher prices for many goods, has insisted that prices are down, pointing to gas and egg prices specifically. The president has said Democrats’ arguments about affordability during the election were “a con job,” and saying, “I don’t want to hear about the affordability, because right now, we’re much less.” However, in recent days he has shifted his response, acknowledging that there is room for consumer prices to drop further.
Vance addresses Republican infighting
Vance was asked about recent high-profile rifts within Trump’s Make America Great Again coalition. Trump broke with one of his most loyal backers, Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, over her complaints he was spending too much time on foreign policy and had dragged his feet on releasing files related to Jeffrey Epstein.
Trump also has been reluctant to disavow white nationalist Nick Fuentes and conservative commentator Tucker Carlson, who recently hosted Fuentes for a friendly interview, touching off turmoil on the right.
Vance did not directly address the recent infighting, but said he thinks the debates within the party are healthy. “It’s totally reasonable for the people who make up this coalition to argue,” about issues, said Vance, who often publicly engages in online debates on his X account.
But Trump’s MAGA coalition needs to remember, “that we have a lot more in common than we do not in common” and that supporters are up against “a radical leftist movement.”
“Have our debates — but focus on the enemy, so that we can win victories that matter for the American people,” Vance said.
The vice president and former senator said Republicans have to keep their coalition united, especially heading into next year’s midterm elections that determine control of Congress.
He said the working class voters who elected Trump to the White House don’t necessarily turn out to vote in midterm elections and said Republicans need to motivate them.
“I think that’s one of the lessons that we learned in Virginia and New Jersey is that when Donald Trump is not on the ballot, you’ve got to give people something to actually believe in, something to be inspired by, to get out there and vote,” Vance said. “They’re not going to vote just because you have an ‘R’ next to your name.”
—Michelle L. Price, Associated Press