JD Vance calls Kamala Harris “trash” at last minute rally in NH.

In his first appearance in New Hampshire since becoming the Republican vice presidential nominee, Senator JD Vance called Vice President Kamala D. Harris “trash” at a rally Sunday evening in Derry, New Hampshire, concluding a speech expressing outrage over the Immigration fueled.

A week earlier, a comedian speaking at a New York rally in support of Vance and former President Donald J. Trump's campaign caused an uproar by calling Puerto Rico a “floating island of trash.” In a garbled response on Tuesday, President Biden criticized Trump, saying: “The only trash I see floating out there is his supporters.”

Biden drew criticism for the remark as Harris distanced himself from it, and the White House drew scrutiny for adding an apostrophe to the official transcript. Aides claimed Biden was referring to the individual comedian and not Trump supporters in general.

During his rally Sunday at the New England Sports Center, Vance smiled as he provoked and amplified the outrage.

“We're not going to call Kamala Harris 'trash' because she did a bad job,” he said. “But in two days, New Hampshire voters will be taking out the trash in Washington, D.C., and that trash is Kamala Harris.”

Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey, who will campaign for Democrats in New Hampshire on Monday, told the Globe that Vance is continuing the ugly and divisive political rhetoric Trump has displayed since his 2016 campaign. Meanwhile, voters are looking to elect leaders who offer solutions, Healey said.

“Trump and Vance offer nothing but lies, misinformation and denigrating people and stoking fear and division,” she said. “That’s not leadership.”

Vance criticized Harris' immigration policies, telling the crowd that New Hampshire's concerns about housing affordability, overcrowded schools and longer wait times at local hospitals stem from “the fact that we have people in the state who don't have the legal right to be here.” .”

“I believe that we are compassionate people, we will always be a compassionate country, but the American president's compassion belongs to the American people who have the right to be here, not to the people who came here illegally,” he said.

“President Trump and I have a different message: Pack your bags, go home in three months,” he added, drawing applause from the crowd.

Vance noted that a wide range of concerns, from drug overdoses to inflation and other financial stresses, stem from border security.

In New Hampshire, the Trump-Vance campaign appears to be trailing Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz. Three recent polls of likely voters in New Hampshire found Republican voters trailing Democratic voters by at least five percentage points in a state that hasn't supported a Republican presidential candidate since 2000.

Still, Vance remained optimistic about his chances in the Granite State on Sunday night. He said he believes voters will “turn New Hampshire red” on Tuesday, and he said his visit to the state suggests the Republican campaign is “expanding the map” and “attracting new voters.”

Vance also expressed support for New Hampshire continuing to hold its traditional first-in-the-nation presidential primary, which Biden and the Democratic National Committee rejected this year. He urged Granite Staters to “remember how abusive the Democratic leadership” has been to their state.

But Democrats said the Trump-Vance campaign had not invested as much in its New Hampshire campaign game as the Harris-Walz team. While Harris campaigned in New Hampshire in September and Trump said he would visit again before the election, he has not set foot in the state since the presidential primary in January.

“You weren’t here,” Sen. Maggie Hassan said before the rally, suggesting that Vance’s appearance was an odd choice. “Donald Trump doesn’t seem to care about the people of New Hampshire. This could be a last minute Hail Mary.”

This story has been updated with comments from Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey.

Steven Porter can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him @reporterporter.