GRAND RAPIDS, MI — Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance had a message for the crowd gathered Wednesday in rural Kent County: You’ve been dumped and cheated by the nation’s political elite.

“The Byron Center has been cast aside, and many places in this country have been cast aside by America’s ruling class in Washington, DC,” Vance said. “Now politicians come to places like Michigan, they say nice things, but they crush our industries, they offshore our jobs and they undercut American wages with illegal labor.

“You, my friends, have been betrayed.”

Throughout his speech Wednesday, Aug. 14, the Ohio senator enumerated how Vice President Kamala Harris had some of that betrayal, saying her tenure has been marked by higher food and energy prices, jobs lost to immigrants and foreign countries, and more crime and overdoses.

The solution presented by former President Donald Trump’s campaign, he said, is to close the border with Mexico, deport undocumented immigrants and deregulate farmers and oil and gas producers.

“When we say ‘Make America Great Again,’ we mean something simple: safe streets for our families, a secure border, affordable food for kids, and the American dream, whether it’s buying a home or seeing your kids do better than you did,” he said. “It’s possible again. Let’s get it done.”

The remarks by Trump’s vice president were made to a crowd of several hundred people outside Cordes Inc., a family-owned trucking company in Byron Center that specializes in hauling sand and gravel products and scrap metal. Vance was flanked in his speech by a line of semi-trucks.

The co-owners, Steve and Charlie Cordes, were invited to the stage by Vance and spoke briefly about how margins have been thinner and the economy has been worse under President Joe Biden.

Michigan has been seen as a key state for both campaigns to win to secure the presidency this fall. The latest polls as of August 14 show Harris with a 2% lead over Trump in the state, with Harris at 49% and Trump at 47%, according to the New York Times.

Wednesday was the third time Vance has campaigned in Michigan since he was announced as Trump’s running mate on July 15.

His first stop was in Grand Rapids that month for a rally with Trump at Van Andel Arena. And Vance was in Michigan last week without Trump for remarks outside a Macomb County police station.

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Trump’s and Harris’ presidential campaigns have often been contrasted in tone, with pundits saying Trump paints a bleak picture of the current state of America and Harris a happy message.

But Vance said the message of joy, along with “everything about her campaign,” is fake, from how she got to the top of the Democratic ticket when President Joe Biden dropped out of the race to the “fake dances” she does at rallies.

“Donald J. Trump’s campaign is instead offering something very, very different,” he said. “Not a false optimism but a very real hope, a hope and a vision to see that hope become a reality in this country again.”

In a call with reporters earlier Wednesday, U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Michigan, pushed back on Vance’s assessment, saying the vision presented by Trump’s campaign is one that benefits not the people but the wealthy.

“This election is a choice between two very different visions, one that grows the economy and cuts costs for people — and one that helps billionaires and big business at the expense of working families,” Stabenow said. “A choice between a disgraced former president, also a felon, who left office with the worst job record of anyone in modern American history, and Vice President Harris, who helped deliver one of the strongest labor markets in history.

“If there are two things Michigan voters hate, it’s the Buckeyes and politicians who lie to them – and JD Vance is both.”

One of Harris’ campaign slogans has been “we’re not going back,” a reference to Trump’s presidency. That’s something the thousands chanted during Harris’ rally last week at Detroit Metropolitan Airport.

Vance refuted that America has gone backwards during her tenure with Biden.

“We have gone back to a place where Americans are not kings in their own country but paupers begging their government for precious scraps of safety, security and food,” he said. “We’re going back, Kamala Harris, because of you, and we’re going to fire you because we want to move this country forward.”

Vance also repeated a promise Trump made when he visited Grand Rapids earlier this year, saying he would conducting the “largest domestic deportation operation in our country’s history” the first day of his presidency.

“Kamala Harris turned the Border Patrol into a travel agency for violent criminals and stowaways from around the world,” Vance said. “Now President Trump and I have another message: If you’re in this country illegally, start packing your bags because Donald Trump is going to send you home and he’s going to do it on day one.”

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Vance’s speech lasted about 25 minutes, and he took questions from reporters afterward.