Ohio Sen. JD Vance, the running mate of former President Donald Trump, said that it would be “very hard” for him to return to the White House if he does not win the crucial battleground state of North Carolina – a “purple” state that he has previously won by a narrow margin in the 2020 election.
JD Vance said that Trump needs to win North Carolina in order to win the 2024 elections. (Image: Getty)
“If you just look at the Electoral College map, it’s very hard for us to win unless we’re able to get North Carolina,” Vance told reporters on the tarmac of the Pitt-Greenville Airport on Saturday.
“I feel very good about it,” Vance said about Trump’s chances of winning the state, adding that he believe his campaign are likely to perform well in the state’s rural areas.
The Republican vice presidential nominee also emphasized the importance of voter turnout, saying that voters sould “actually get out there, make sure their voices are heard because the only way we lose this race is that people don’t turn out.”
He also took a swipe at Vice President Kamala Harris, saying that her policies have “failed” North Carolina.
Political experts often view North Carolina as a purple state, meaning there is an almost even number of Republican and Democratic voters that can vote for either candidate.
But the Democrats have suffered one of the party’s toughest losses four years ago when Trump defeated Biden in North Carolina by an extremely narrow margin of 1.3 points, with the former winning 49.9% of the vote.
And Trump has defeated Hilliary Clinton in the same state in 2016, with the former winning an overwhelming margin with 49.83% of the vote compared to Clinton at 3.66%.
The last time that voters in the Tar Heel State voted for a Democratic presidential nominee was 2008, when former President Barack Obama beat the late Arizona Sen. John McCain.
Vance’s comments comes after a Quinnipiac University poll, which was conducted before last Tuesday’s presidential debate,” found that 49% of likely voters in North Carolina preferred Harris over Trump.
Once seen as a state that would have ensured a victory for Trump, the Tar Heel State now seems equally split for this year’s elections ever since Harris launched her presidential camapign.
The poll also declared the race too close to call for either candidate, making North Carolina a key battleground state for both parties seeking to win the state’s 16 electoral votes.
A candidate must win a total of 270 electoral votes to win the White House.
With only less than 50 days until Election Day, Harris and Trump have pushed the next phase of their campaign by making multiple visits to North Carolina and increasing political ads in an effort to make their pitch to the state’s voters.
Harris even attended two rallies in Charlotte and Greensboro earlier this week in an apparent effort to ride on her post-debate momentum.
