Vance addresses crime issue at campaign rally in Kenosha

Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance took the stage in front of the Kenosha District Court on August 20 at a campaign rally focused on crime and attended by other Republican lawmakers and candidates.

Kenosha was the scene of several days of protests against police brutality that turned violent in 2020. Illinois teenager Kyle Rittenhouse shot three protesters during one of the demonstrations, killing two of them. A jury later acquitted Rittenhouse of manslaughter and endangerment charges after he argued he fired in self-defense. Republicans viewed him as a symbol of gun rights.

Vance used the situation to denounce Kamala Harris as soft on crime, saying that feeling safe is an American birthright and promising that he and Trump would abolish sanctuary cities for people living in the country illegally, deport violent offenders and support the death penalty for drug dealers.

He also called for tougher law enforcement and promised to end the number of frivolous lawsuits against the police.

“All this is common sense,” he said.

Vance also took questions directly from reporters in the press area. When asked for his opinion on the Democratic National Convention, which is being held just about 60 miles south in Chicago, Vance denounced that city's murder rate. He also criticized Harris for not answering questions from reporters as he did, but instead always making sure to keep a teleprompter between her and the audience.

Republican U.S. Senate candidate Eric Hovde fired up the crowd of about 150 people waiting for Vance by sharply criticizing Kamala Harris' record on public safety.

He accused her of allowing a slide into criminality during her tenure as district attorney in San Francisco. He described her tenure as California's attorney general as a failure and accused her of allowing the creation of sanctuary cities for illegal immigrants, sex trafficking and drug use. During her time as vice president, she was also unable to control the influx of illegal immigrants across the southern border of the United States, he said.

“It has a long history of failure,” Hovde said.

Harris will travel to Milwaukee on the evening of August 20 for a rally at the Fiserv Forum, where the Republican National Convention was held in July.