As JD Vance fundraises with extremists like RFK Jr. and ultra-wealthy megadonors in California this weekend, DNC Rapid Response Director Alex Floyd released the following statement: 

“JD Vance is striking out with the voters that the GOP will need to win in November and continuing to drag down the Trump ticket with the lowest approval ratings of any VP candidate in recent history. He’s more comfortable spending time with Trump’s inner circle of extremists and weirdos like RFK Jr. who want to carry water for the Trump-Vance ticket’s radical Project 2025 agenda to rig the economy for billionaires and big corporations, give Trump unprecedented power over our lives, and gut our basic freedoms. But the American people aren’t fooled – Vance is running to his extremist buddies because he can’t talk to voters about issues that actually matter to them.”

THIS WEEKEND: JD Vance is fundraising in California with ultra-wealthy and special interest megadonors and dangerous extremists like RFK Jr. 

Sunday: Vance will fundraise with Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Long Beach Press-Telegram: “JD Vance to stump for Trump at fundraisers in Los Angeles and San Diego County”

“Sacks, one of the hosts of the upcoming Los Angeles event, is a close friend of Tesla CEO Elon Musk and part of a growing group of Silicon Valley executives backing the Trump campaign.

“Vance also has a strong connection to the tech community and previously worked in San Francisco as a venture capitalist. During this time, Vance became a protégé of Peter Thiel, who helped found and lead PayPal alongside Musk and Sacks.

Forbes: “’He’s A Smart Guy’: JD Vance Expresses Interest In Having RFK Jr Play A Role In Trump Administration”

Vance on if he has any hesitation accepting RFK Jr.’s endorsement: “I don’t.”

Vance also has deep ties to other extremists, including architects of Project 2025, Tucker Carlson, and Steve Bannon.

The Guardian: “Revealed: top Vance aide worked for far-right consultancy with extremist links”

Vox: “Kevin Roberts, the president of the right-wing Heritage Foundation and the driving force behind Project 2025, told Ward that ‘[Vance] is absolutely going to be one of the leaders — if not the leader — of our movement.’”

New York Times: “For years, Mr. Vance has appeared entirely comfortable in far-out-there corners of his party, embracing thinkers and proposals on the so-called New Right…

“People whom Mr. Vance has cited to explain his worldview or detail who helped shape his thinking include Patrick Deneen, a professor of political science at the University of Notre Dame who has suggested that conservatives must harness the power of the state to counter “liberal totalitarianism”; Peter Thiel, the billionaire venture capitalist for whom Mr. Vance worked; and Curtis Yarvin, a prominent voice on the New Right who has argued that American democracy has devolved to the point that the country needs a monarchical leader.”

CNN: “A day before Donald Trump’s deadline to pick a running mate… the former president took a call from a new voice.

“That person, Tesla billionaire Elon Musk, was one of several people urging Trump in the final moments to select Ohio Sen. JD Vance.”

Salon: “JD Vance will join Tucker Carlson on stage after the ex-Fox News anchor hosted a pro-Nazi historian”

Politico: “Vance’s inner circle already bears the imprint of Trump’s influence, with a handful of advisers and staffers who have one foot in Vance’s camp and one foot in Trump world…

“[Project 2025 architect Russell Vought] told POLITICO Magazine that he is in ‘regular contact’ with Vance’s Hill office and that ‘we probably have one of the closest relationships with [Vance’s] office that we do with any Hill office.’ …

“The former Fox News superstar [Tucker Carlson] used his prime-time show to promote Vance’s Senate candidacy in 2022 and has remained one of his most ardent public supporters. Vance is a regular guest on Carlson’s new platform… and Carlson reportedly personally lobbied Trump to pick Vance as his vice presidential candidate in the days leading up to the Republican National Convention…

“The former Trump strategist [Steve Bannon] is another of Vance’s key allies in the conservative media ecosphere, frequently hosting Vance on his show, War Room, and promoting him to his sizable social media following.”

The Trump-Vance ticket is pushing an extreme Project 2025 agenda that would rig the economy for billionaires and big corporations on the backs of working families, explode the deficit, and risk supercharging inflation.

Vance on Trump’s plan that would raise tariffs and raise costs for hardworking Americans: “This is a fascinating proposal and we could talk for a while about it.”

New York Times: “Senator JD Vance of Ohio, former President Donald J. Trump’s running mate, denied in an interview with NBC News on Sunday that tariffs had caused higher costs for Americans, as economists have documented.”

Center for American Progress: “Former President Trump Proposes an Up to $3,900 Tax Increase for a Typical Family”

CBS News: “Millions of low- and middle-class households would likely face significantly higher taxes under the Project 2025’s proposals.”

Center for American Progress: “Project 2025’s Tax Plan Would Raise Taxes on the Middle Class and Cut Taxes for the Wealthy”

Bloomberg: “The combined cost of the Trump plans is so big that if Congress were to try to pass the tax cut proposals and keep spending flat, it means they could continue to fund the military, federal benefit programs, like Social Security, pay interest on the debt — and nothing else. That means eliminating major federal agencies that handle duties such as law enforcement, border security, air traffic control, tax collection and international relations.”

Axios: “Sixteen Nobel prize-winning economists are jumping into the presidential campaign with a stark warning: Former President Trump’s plans would reignite inflation and cause lasting harm to the global economy if he wins in November.”

Wall Street Journal: “A drumbeat of reports from Wall Street economists have warned that Trump’s plans could substantially slow economic growth while driving up consumer prices.”

The Atlantic: “Trump’s Plan to Supercharge Inflation”

Axios: “Trump plans would add $5.8 trillion to national debt”

Washington Post: “Trump and his advisers have discussed deeper cuts to both individual and corporate tax rates that would build on his controversial 2017 tax law … Further cutting corporate taxes … would primarily benefit large firms.”

Project 2025: “The corporate income tax rate should be reduced to 18 percent.”

Vance: “I’ve reviewed a lot of [Project 2025]. There are some good ideas in there.”

Vance has praised Trump’s failed tax scam even though it gave massive handouts to billionaires at the expense of working families, caused the deficit to skyrocket, and created new incentives for companies to ship jobs overseas.

Vance: “The left attacked Donald Trump for those tax cuts said they would make the deficit worse when in reality we took in more revenue because the government got out of the way on the regulatory side and the tax cuts spurred a lot of growth which means more people working, which meant more economic production which meant the entire economy was healthier … I think we have a pretty common sense regulatory and tax agenda.”

New York Times: “The 2017 corporate tax cuts signed into law by Mr. Trump have not increased government revenue … In fact, they have had the opposite effect.”

Washington Post: “For the first time in history, U.S. billionaires paid a lower tax rate than the working class last year”

CBS News: “Two years after Trump tax cuts, middle-class Americans are falling behind”

The Guardian: “Donald Trump’s $1.5tn tax cuts have helped billionaires pay a lower rate than the working class for the first time in history.”

Washington Post Analysis: “One of President Donald Trump’s lesser-known but profoundly damaging legacies will be the explosive rise in the national debt that occurred on his watch. The financial burden that he’s inflicted on our government will wreak havoc for decades, saddling our kids and grandkids with debt. The national debt has risen by almost $7.8 trillion during Trump’s time in office.

Washington Post: “Trump promised ‘America First’ would keep jobs here. But the tax plan might push them overseas.”

Vance has opposed legislation to protect unions and defended Trump’s comments about firing striking workers, standing firmly against working people.

Politico: “Vance has consistently opposed the PRO Act, the ‘holy grail of pro-union labor reform’ that organized labor and its allies on the Hill have been fighting for over two years to get passed. … Vance’s skepticism of the PRO Act is part of a more fundamental skepticism that he harbors toward organized labor.”

Fast Company: “Vance also voted in favor of a resolution to strike down the NLRB’s updated joint-employer rule, which would have given workers more leverage when organizing at companies—like Amazon—that rely heavily on third-party contractors, by forcing both employers to participate in labor negotiations.”

Politico: “Vice presidential candidate JD Vance defended Donald Trump’s comments about firing striking workers during a rally in Michigan.”