MECOSTA COUNTY, Mich — In scorching heat and just before a downpour in Mecosta County, the race for the White House continued as Senator JD Vance rallied supporters Tuesday afternoon.
"Donald Trump is going to cut taxes for American workers, cut taxes for the businesses that hire them and raise the tariffs on the companies that are shipping jobs overseas," Vance said. "That's our promise and that's exactly what Donald Trump's going to do."
As in previous visits, Vance touched again on issues of the economy and others.
But for this visit, he also touched on a hot topic in the local community: an electric vehicle battery plant set for Green Charter Township that some believe may be too closely connected to the Chinese Communist Party.
"Kamala Harris not only wants to allow the Chinese Communist Party to build factories on American soil," Vance claimed. "She wants to pay them to do it with our tax money."
Multiple Democrats, however, denounced Vance's visit in an event in Grand Rapids earlier on Tuesday.
"We won't forget Donald Trump's economic record. How he forced working families to foot the bill for tax giveaways for billionaires and left our economy in shambles," said State Rep. Carol Glanville (D-Walker).
Additionally, some Gotion allies have refuted the notion of close ties to the CCP.
“Gotion High-Tech is an independently operated international private enterprise," Gotion VP of North American Operations Chuck Thelen told 13 ON YOUR SIDE in a statement last month. "The political affiliation of any employee does not affect the company’s business decision-making process. Gotion complies with all laws and regulations of the countries where it conducts business and provides high-quality products to their customers.”
But there wasn't much wonder as to why Vance brought that message to this venue specifically.
The visit came amid a backdrop of not only a county Donald Trump won in 2020 with over 60% of the vote but also a horse farm where, less than a week ago, locals rallied against the plant.
At least one person 13 ON YOUR SIDE spoke with on Tuesday had her own fears of foreign influence in the U.S.
"Our country's become such a socialist- it's almost to the brink of a being a communist country," said rallygoer Holli Trevino.
This was coupled with her belief that the nation's current top executives are not doing their job.
"We don't have a president running the country, we don't have a vice president running the country," Trevino said. "And so, I'm just- that's why I'm here supporting."
But, in contrast to Mecosta County, West Michigan as a whole has remained a battleground on this road to the White House.
It's a region Vance has visited twice in recent weeks as some polls have suggested a lead for Vice President Kamala Harris's campaign.
He said his frequency, he hopes, signals an acknowledgment from the Trump-Vance campaign of the scenario facing Michiganders.
"I think that it resonates in Michigan maybe more than any other state because Michigan actually saw what happened when those factories closed down," Vance told 13 ON YOUR SIDE. "It's not just an economic issue; it's a dignity issue. You have a lot of families broke apart because those factories disappeared. We just want to rebuild a good middle class so that people can live the American dream. I think in Michigan, we get that more- or, I should say, Michiganders get that more than most folks."
Whether issues like Gotion or other points highlighted by the campaign will be enough to succeed in this critical region is set to answer itself with the general election just over two months away.