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FOX 17 EXCLUSIVE: Sen. Vance calls on Democrats to 'tone down the rhetoric'

During a one-on-one interview Tuesday with FOX 17, Vance said, "I really do think that both sides can do better."

Republican nominee for vice president JD Vance made a campaign stop in Sparta Tuesday. FOX 17 sat down with him on the values he and former President Trump hope to bring to the White House.

By: Ilene Gould

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SPARTA, Mich. — Ohio Senator and vice-presidential nominee JD Vance made his fifth trip to Michigan on Tuesday — his fourth to West Michigan.

Tuesday's campaign stop comes just days after the apparent second assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump.

JD Vance Campaigns in Sparta, MI Indoor Crowd — Ohio Senator and Republican vice-presidential nominee JD Vance campaigns in Sparta, MI, his fifth trip to the battleground state and his fourth to West Michigan, since becoming the nominee.

I spoke one-on-one with the senator just before he took to the stage in Sparta.

Vance’s message Tuesday: it’s time to tone down “the rhetoric."

"President Trump has now had two assassination attempts on his life in the past two months. Thank God that hasn't happened on the other side, but more importantly, a lot of this stuff seems motivated as much by censorship as anything else."

Following Sunday's apparent assassination attempt, the senator brings a call to cool down the temperature.

"It's not just that Donald Trump is bad — they say it's also that he is a threat to democracy. 'He must be eliminated. He must be silenced. He must be kicked off of social media.'"

Vance argues that the language used by Democrats is inciting violence.

"When you pair these criticisms of his policy with the argument that he has to be censored, some person is going to take a gun into their own hands and decide to actually commit the ultimate act of censorship, which is killing somebody. I really do think that both sides can do better, but fundamentally, this is a much bigger problem," says Senator Vance.

But on Monday, speaking about Biden and Harris — Trump told FOX News Digital, "These are people that want to destroy our country," while adding, "It is called the enemy from within. They are the real threat."

But as Senator Vance puts it: "What's really different... and what President Trump and I try to do is never call for censorship of our fellow Americans. We can criticize Kamala Harris's policies. You'll never hear Donald Trump say she should be kicked off social media or she should be arrested or she should be silenced."

Sen. JD Vance campaigns in Sparta, MI indoor crowd 2 — In a call to "tone down the rhetoric," Sen. JD Vance says "President Trump has now had two assassination attempts on his life in the past two months. Thank God that hasn't happened on the other side, but more importantly, a lot of this stuff seems motivated as much by censorship as anything else."

In speaking to FOX 17, there was plenty of criticism, blaming the Biden-Harris administration for the current state of the economy, while instead calling the Inflation Reduction Act the “inflation explosion act.”

"Donald Trump and I have a plan to reduce inflation in this country. ... We want to unleash American energy. We want to make it easier to produce the things that we need right here in America."

Vance also explained that they’ll reduce regulations that, he says, are driving up costs.

"We have a lot of regulations in place right now that make it easier to produce everything overseas instead of right here at home, and that includes energy. So cut out the power plant mandates, cut out the electric vehicle mandates, and you actually drive down costs for everybody, because in driving down the cost of energy, you make groceries more affordable; you make housing more affordable."

On affordable housing, while the Harris-Walz ticket is proposing providing up to $25,000 in down payments for first-time home-buyers, Vance pivots toward immigration.

"I think one of the biggest issues I hear from Michiganders is that housing is way too expensive," says Vance. "Two things that we've got to do. One, we've got to get all of the illegal immigrants out of this country who are competing with Americans for scarce homes. We've also got to build more homes in the process, and that means empowering our builders and our construction workers to get out there and do what they do best."

FOX 17: 1-on-1 pkg with Sen. JD Vance

In the two months Vance has been the nominee, he’s been to the battleground state of Michigan five times, mainly making trips to the west side with stops in Grand Rapids, Byron Township, Big Rapids and now Sparta.

"We love this area. It's a beautiful area of the state, and I say this as a buckeye, of course. Michigan always gives me a good welcome and I'm grateful for that."

Now, with less than two months to go until Election Day, Michigan will likely welcome Senator Vance and former President Trump once again.

"No secrets here. Michigan's one of the most important states for President Trump and for Kamala Harris, and so we're just trying to get out voters, turn out voters and speak to as many people as we can."

FOX 17 EXCLUSIVE: Full 1-on-1 interview with Sen. JD Vance

Just last week Democratic vice-presidential nominee and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz rallied in Michigan and also spoke exclusively to FOX 17 in a one-on-one interview. You can see more about the governor's campaign stop and our exclusive interview here.