Vance tells Americans not to ‘gripe about all the little things’ as cost of living soars
Por John Bowden — – World RSS Feed
Vance tells Americans not to ‘gripe about all the little things’ as cost of living soars
Vance tells Sean Hannity that Democratic ‘arsonists’ will reverse Trump’s successes even as he admits his own administration needs more time
John Bowden in Washington, D.C. Friday 02 October 2026 17:28 BST
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Vice President JD Vance laid out the Trump administration’s best case for a Republican victory in the midterm elections on Thursday, returning to his role as the White House’s great communicator. But instead of empathizing with Americans’ economic pains and fears about the future, the vice president leaned into fear-mongering about Democrats.
Vance spoke with Fox’s Sean Hannity in an interview that aired Thursday, and leaned into the administration’s successes at driving illegal crossings at the U.S.-Mexico border to 50-year lows as he made the case for the GOP.
As he spoke about the supposed priorities of hypothetical Democratic majorities in the House and Senate, however, Vance claimed that his opponents wanted to block Republicans from ever winning elections again and “transform” America, citing such issues as acceptance of transgender Americans.
He claimed those reasons were why Americans should not “gripe” about the “little things” like gas prices nearing their Covid-era highs, U.S. casualties in the war against Iran and high cost of living issues, and give Republicans two more years to attempt to fix things.
“This is not the time to sort of gripe about all the little things. There are obviously — I think every single person who voted for us in 2024 could find something where they wish maybe congressional Republicans had gone further,” said Vance.
open image in gallery“But the challenge here is between Democrats who want to destroy the country, who want to permanently disempower you, make it so even if you vote Republican your vote doesn’t actually count anymore. And Republicans, who fundamentally are trying to solve the problems that Democrats under Joe Biden created. That is the choice.”
”There’s so much that’s going in the right direction. There’s so much that I’m proud of. Absolutely, we need to get more done, which is why you need to give us two more years to get great results for the American people,” he added.
Republicans appear on track to be swept in historic fashion if midterm polling continues to trend in the direction it’s been trending for six months for just another 30 days. The war with Iran is massively unpopular with voters, and the high gas and diesel prices caused by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz for months have caused a ripple effect across the U.S. economy, driving up prices in other areas.
Adding to the complications for the White House has been its inconsistent promises of ending the war: The president and his aides have all said at various times that the war was weeks, even days away from ending, only for hostilities to repeatedly resume. Hostilities resumed in August and the two sides continue to trade attacks in the Strait of Hormuz. Little progress towards a peace agreement has been evident since then.
open image in galleryThe vice president deployed his comparatively eloquent message to Fox News as Donald Trump completed a two-state swing of the southwest, visiting Texas and Oklahoma. The president spoke in Denton, Texas on Thursday and complained that the media was not doing enough to get the word out for his administration, and repeated a claim that his White House was achieving the “best numbers” of any president in history.
“We have the greatest numbers of any president in the history of our country, and I can’t get the word out,” the president said. “The only thing we’re doing bad at is public relations.”
He also attacked Democrats for their calls for his administration to address the affordability crisis that economists say is directly linked to fuel price spikes from the war against Iran, calling those affordability concerns “bull***t” and once again insinuating that Democrats made up the word “affordability” to hurt his political brand.
open image in gallery“They say, ‘yes, but affordability?’ And everyone thinks that the prices are high because of me, but they’re not. We’re the ones bringing down the prices. I just hope you can know. The one good thing about [the president’s critics] is, they have a great line of bull***t,” said Trump.
“You know, they came up with the word affordability. So from day one, they said, ‘what about your prices?!’ And then they came up– you know, they always come up with these words.”
Trump’s presence in Texas was his second visit to the state in a month aimed at saving the campaign of Ken Paxton, the Texas attorney general. Paxton trailed his Democratic opponent in the state’s high-profile Senate race, James Talarico, 51 percent to 49 percent in a Fox News poll this week. He has consistently trailed Talarico since winning the primary; a Democrat has not won statewide in Texas since the 1990s.
Republican candidates in other states are faring badly as well, and a forecast from poll monitor FiftyPlusOne puts Democrats with seven in ten odds of winning the Senate in November, putting the final projection of Democratic seats at 52.
GOP candidates in Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, Florida and Alaska are all playing defense as polling has trended against them over the summer with the resumption of hostilities against Iran.
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JD VanceWhite HouseIranSenateRepublicansDemocratsStrait of HormuzTexasOklahomaSean HannityDonald TrumpJoe BidenKen Paxton
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