A group of over 100 protesters welcomed Vice President JD Vance to Bay City, Michigan on Friday.
The vice president traveled to Vantage Plastics to promote American manufacturing with Small Business Administrator Kelly Loeffler.
‘Every opportunity I get to get the hell out of Washington, DC that is a good day,’ Vance said after he took the stage.
But left-wing protesters felt differently, holding signs protesting the vice president’s visit outside on the side of the road.
‘Fascists not welcome in Michigan’ one sign read.
‘Fascists are not welcome in Bay City,’ read another sign.
Other protesters held signs protesting Elon Musk and proclaimed ‘This is not normal,’ and others simply featured the ‘resist’ slogan coined by activists.
Other signs demanded Trump’s impeachment and for he and Trump to support Ukraine.
‘Wrap Vance in plastic ship to Russia,’ another sign read.
Vance took on the protesters during his speech, mocking them for not being at work.
‘I can’t be the only person wondering it’s a little after noon on a Friday … Don’t you all have jobs?’ he asked with a chuckle as the crowd applauded.
‘We want to get those people off of the streets and back to work, it would be good for them, and good for us too,’ he added.
Vance defended President Trump’s tariffs against Mexico, Canada, and European Union, even though they have shocked the stock market this week.
‘We have an American media that says, “how dare Donald Trump stand up for the American worker,’” he said. ‘I speak for the American worker when I say, “Thank God for President Trump for finally standing up for the American worker!”’
Loeffler also noted the protesters during her remarks at the manufacturing facility.
‘I’ve got bad news for them, this administration will never apologize for standing behind the hard working Americans who power this great nation,’ she said as the audience applauded.
The vice president got a much more friendly audience at the plastics manufacturing factory where workers applauded his remarks and chanted ‘USA!’ after he celebrated the expansion of American manufacturing jobs.
On the other side of the road, Trump/Vance supporters waved flags supporting the vice president’s visit.
‘When we have foreign countries who use slave labor that undercuts the wages of American workers why haven’t we had leadership to help us fight back?’ he asked.
Vance also blamed former Vice President Joe Biden for borrowing trillions of dollars during his first and only term as president.
‘What did Joe Biden buy with all our borrowed money? And the answer is not a damn thing.’
The vice president hinted about the visit from Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer with Trump in the Oval Office on Thursday, during his remarks.
‘It’s kind of funny to see some of our Democratic governors in various parts — I won’t mention which states exactly — coming the Oval Office and begging for economic development under Trump’s leadership they knew they would never get under Biden’s leadership,’ he said.