Vice President JD Vance touted the Trump administration’s economic record Tuesday at an address in the Lehigh Valley, highlighting jobs and inflation numbers, even as polls suggest a majority of Americans remain unsatisfied with the state of the U.S. economy.
Vance, speaking before a crowd of hundreds at the Uline warehouse facility in Lower Macungie Township promised that the golden age of the United States is “on the horizon,” citing President Donald Trump’s efforts to cut taxes and crack down on illegal immigration.
Supporters filled folding chairs and stood in a fenced-off area amid the stacked cardboard boxes that filled Uline’s 926,000-square-foot packing facility, which opened in 2022.
Vance and other GOP officials who spoke before him lauded provisions of Republicans’ “One Big Beautiful Bill,” which extended $4.5 trillion in tax cuts that were set to expire and added new cuts, including eliminating taxes on tips, overtime pay, Social Security and car loan interest. The law broadly cuts taxes for nearly all Americans, although critics say the wealthiest are expected to benefit the most.
Vance placed blame for high inflation and stagnant job growth on Joe Biden and other Democrats, and made the case that Trump has presented a solution to the economy.
“When I hear the Democrats talk about the affordability crisis that they created, it’s a little bit like Charles Manson criticizing violent crime. Look in the mirror, my friend,” Vance said. “You are the cause of the problem, and Donald J. Trump’s administration is the solution to the problem you created.”
Vance promised that Americans would have “the best tax season in 2026 that you have ever had” due to the tax cuts and rebates passed by Republicans this year, which will lead to “more money in your pocket.”
He also touted the most recent jobs report, which saw 64,000 private sector jobs added in November, though the country lost 105,000 jobs in October. The unemployment rate also rose slightly to 4.6%, its highest since 2021. The jobs lost in October were largely attributed to the layoffs of thousands of federal workers at the end of September, which Vance said was a positive example of the administration cutting down on bureaucracy.
Vance’s visit comes as a majority of Americans say they are unsatisfied with the economy; according to an AP poll, just 31% of adults surveyed are satisfied with Trump’s economic leadership.
Asked by a reporter whether he thought that affordability could be a “liability” for Republicans during the 2026 midterm election, Vance said he thinks voters will understand that it will take time for Americans to feel the effects of their economic policies.
“I feel very confident that if we keep wages high, we keep energy prices low, we keep on chipping away at the affordability crisis created by Joe Biden’s administration, yes, I believe the American people are going to reward us because the American people are smart,” Vance said. “They know Rome wasn’t built in a day. They know what Joe Biden broke is not going to get fixed in a week.”
Vance agrees with Trump’s assessment in an interview last week that the U.S. economy deserves a grade of “A ,” he told the audience.
He also shared his reaction to an indepth Vanity Fair interview with White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, in which she criticized Attorney General Pam Bondi, said Trump has the personality of an alcoholic and called Vance a “conspiracy theorist.” Wiles in a statement Tuesday criticized the Vanity Fair article but did not deny any of the statements attributed to her.
Vance said that he has not read the Vanity Fair article but he respects Wiles and did not condemn her comments, though he added that White House staff should learn a lesson to give “fewer interviews to mainstream media outlets.”
“Susie Wiles, we have our disagreements. We agree on much more than we disagree, but I’ve never seen her be disloyal to the president of the United States,” Vance said. “And that makes her the best White House chief of staff that I think the president can ask for.”
Vance was joined by Republican U.S. Rep. Ryan Mackenzie, who represents the Lehigh Valley in Congress, U.S. Secretary of Labor Lori Chavez-DeRemer and Pennsylvania Treasurer and Republican gubernatorial candidate Stacy Garritty, who gave remarks before his address.
“This is what happens when you have a Congress and an administration that puts America first,” Mackenzie said. “When we put workers, families and small businesses first, we know that we can succeed. This is the alternative to the last administration that was America last, funding their special interests, and making sure that nobody could actually get ahead.”
Several local Republicans, including Bethlehem police officer Sam Elias, former Republican candidate for Lehigh County Commissioner Jackie Rivera and Rick Reppert, owner of commercial contractor R L Reppert, spoke before Vance, lauding the Trump administration’s tax cuts and crackdown on immigration.
Susan Cowell, a retired teacher from Bangor who attended Vance’s address, said more Americans should “trust” that the Trump administration will address lingering economic issues like high grocery prices.
“The economy is fine, this guy knows what he’s doing. Trust the man,” Cowell said. “Everything the man is doing, he’s lowering taxes, he’s giving us rebates of money that’s really ours. He’s attacking the people who are ripping America off.”
Around 4 miles away, a group of 30 protesters stood with signs protesting Vance and the Trump administration. “Your economy sucks” and “High prices are real” were written on some of their signs.
Brooke McDermitt, the head organizer of Indivisible Lehigh Valley, a left-leaning organizing that helped organize the protest, said it is hard to claim that the affordability is a “hoax,” which Trump claimed last week during an address at in Mount Pocono, Monroe County, when everyone can see the prices at the register.
“[Americans] know that prices aren’t going down,” she said.
The rate of inflation in the United States is 3%, higher than a low of 2.3% this year but far below rates of inflation in 2021, which were as high as 7%.
Following his remarks at Uline, Vance visited the Allentown Rescue Mission, an organization that serves homeless men in downtown Allentown, and served food to a group of the nonprofit’s clients, according to a White House pool report.
Reporter Chris Dornblaser contributed to this report. Reporter Lindsay Weber can be reached at Liwebermcall.com.
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