Vice President JD Vance unloaded on a heckler at a Florida rally, branding them a “Democrat plant.”
Vance, who also claimed the protester wanted to “release illegal aliens on the streets of Florida,” made the remark while speaking to an audience in Lakeland on Thursday.
Heaping praise onto Republican Senator Ashley Moody ahead of what polls say could be grueling midterm elections for the GOP, Vance was repeatedly interrupted by a man shouting from the audience.
“We got a clown over here, ladies and gentlemen,” Vance replied, breaking out into a grin. As the vice president looked around the room the crowd chanted “U.S.A.” and pumped their fists.
Once the chant died down, Vance took aim at the heckler.
“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 cell phone at the end of a pole,” Vance said.
“Ladies and gentlemen, that guy was nothing more...as we know this is not a representative voter from the state of Florida; that guy is a Democrat plant. He wants to raise your taxes and release illegal aliens on the streets of Florida.
“Well, we kicked him out just like we’re gonna kick out the rest of the Democrats who want to do the exact same thing.”
Vance was later interrupted by a second heckler while talking about Representative Byron Donalds, who is running to become the Sunshine State’s governor. A woman was heard shouting from the audience before the crowd booed at her.
“What that woman is yelling is that she wants left-wing bureaucrats in control of your school,” Vance said, “but Byron thinks you oughta be in charge of your kids’ schools.”
Democrats and Republicans alike have ramped up their campaigns across the country as the midterms approach, with the former taking aim at the latter’s handling of the economy and the ongoing war with Iran.
Polling released by NBC News has given the Democrats a 9-point advantage over the Republican Party when it comes to taking control of Congress.
Ahead of the elections, Vance has been mocked for a previous pitch to voters asking for more time to get things done.
“There’s a lot of good that’s been done, but there’s a lot of work left to do,” Vance insisted in a podcast last month. “Don’t give power to the people who cause the problems that we’re fixing.
“Give us another chance, or give us another couple of years, to continue to work on the amazing things that we’ve been doing for the past two years.”
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