Vance Tells Florida Senate Nominee Nixon She Does Not Belong

Vice President JD Vance told a campaign rally in Lakeland, Florida, on Thursday that Democratic U.S. Senate nominee Angie Nixon did not belong in America if she held socialist views, drawing attention to the candidates’ sharply opposing political positions ahead of the November election. Speaking while campaigning for Republican Sen. Ashley Moody, who is seeking reelection against Nixon, Vance said that when Nixon calls herself a socialist, the appropriate response is to tell her to leave and that she does not belong in the country. The crowd cheered, according to accounts of the event. Vance also criticized Nixon over policing and prison policy, saying she supported defunding police and abolishing prisons. Nixon has disputed that description. In a statement attributed to her, she said she does not support defunding police or abolishing prisons, but does support ending for-profit prisons. The accounts provided do not establish the full context of the candidates’ statements on those policies.