GREENVILLE, NC — Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, said Saturday that it would be “very difficult” for the Trump campaign to win in November if it doesn’t hold on to North Carolina, a state former President Donald Trump narrowly won. in 2020.
“It’s going to be very hard for us to win unless we can get North Carolina,” the vice presidential candidate told reporters on the tarmac at Pitt-Greenville Airport after attending a college football game.
Vance predicted his ticket would do well in the eastern and rural parts of the state, but emphasized the importance of voter turnout.
“We just want to remind people to really get out there and make sure their voices are heard because the only way we’re going to lose this race is if people don’t get out,” Vance said.
He stated that he was “very good” about their chances of winning state.
The Trump campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Vance’s remarks. Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign also did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Vance was also in North Carolina on Tuesday for a fundraiser, having joined Trump in the state in late August.
Trump won North Carolina in 2020 with 49.9 percent of the vote, but President Joe Biden trailed with 48.6 percent. The state has not voted for a Democratic presidential candidate since 2008, when Barack Obama defeated Sen. John McCain by less than 20,000 votes.
In September, a Quinnipiac University poll before Tuesday’s debate found that 49 percent of likely voters in North Carolina favored Harris and 46 percent favored Trump. The results, which were within the poll’s margin of error, show a razor-thin race in a potentially decisive state.
Democrats see North Carolina as a potential swing and are sending millions of dollars into ads hoping they can get 270 Electoral College votes.
Harris held two rallies in North Carolina this week, with stops in Greensboro and Charlotte drawing a total of about 25,000 spectators.
North Carolina Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper told NBC News in an interview Thursday that the Trump campaign is “panicking” because “Trump has no other path to the presidency” that doesn’t include the state.
“We did this in 2008. North Carolina voted for Barack Obama and made history,” Cooper said. “North Carolina is poised to make history again.”
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
