VP Vance Coming to Indiana on Thursday
INDIANAPOLIS — U.S. Vice President JD Vance is coming to Indiana on Thursday, says Indiana Governor Mike Braun in a press conference on Tuesday.
Braun says Vance will talk about different topics, including the redistricting of the state’s U.S. House of Representatives seats.
Indiana has nine congressional seats, seven of them being held by Republicans.
The Republican governor is scheduled to meet with Vance and Republican leaders from the state House and Senate. Meanwhile, the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department and other state and federal agencies are working together to coordinate security for the vice president’s visit.
“Indiana Republicans are so afraid of the voters that they are willing to rig the elections to drown Hoosiers voices. Indiana is already one of the most voter-suppressed states in the nation. Sending the Vice President here to beg for another Congressional seat is beyond absurd. Hoosiers need to stand up against this blatant undermining of democracy,” Karen Tallian, chair of the Indiana Democratic Party, said shortly before Braun’s statement.
Indiana State Representative Matt Pierce (D-Bloomington) says President Trump appears to be acting out of fear.
“He fears the voters who are rejecting his unpopular policies: raising prices for American families with his import taxes, taking health care away from millions of Americans and increasing the number of hungry children, all to give tax cuts to the wealthiest Americans,” Piece says. “And now I hear he wants to put a 250% tax on many prescription drugs. No wonder he wants to thwart the will of the people by rigging the next election.”
Pierce claims that President Trump and Vice President Vance are so desperate for more power that they’re using gerrymandering to gain extra seats. According to Pierce, it shows a high level of desperation to want more seats in Indiana, where Republicans already have a seven-to-two advantage.
“Most shocking of all, President Trump and the Congressional Republicans are so arrogant that they don’t feel any need to hide their political power grab,” Pierce says. “They are up front about the fact that they are willing to cheat to win the midterm elections.”
Pierce is asking if Governor Braun and the leaders of the General Assembly will support the plan.
“Will they put the interests of Hoosiers before the Congressional Republicans or cave to the demands of President Trump,” Pierce says. “We will soon find out if they have the courage to tell President Trump, ‘No.’ Democrats are in a knife fight for democracy, and we’ve got to act like it.”
