VP Pence makes quick campaign stop in Tucson, says Trump will make economy great again

President Trump sent his second in command to deliver his closing message in Tucson on Friday.

Speaking at the Tucson Jet Center at Tucson International Airport, Vice President Mike Pence said the Trump administration built the “greatest economy” in American history.

“And we are going to do it again,” he told the crowd of a few hundred people during the afternoon rally.

Pence touched on the now-familiar Republican themes of the economy, border security, increased military spending and law and order as he made one last pitch for a second term.

“I just truly believe if all of us do all that we need to do, in four more days it will be four more years,” he said.

During his 48-minute speech, Pence also attacked Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden’s plans to raise taxes, combat climate change, push police reform and expand the Affordable Care Act.

In the process, Pence tried to lift the campaign of incumbent Sen. Martha McSally, who is locked in a tough election fight of her own against Democrat Mark Kelly.

Noting that Friday was the last day of early voting in Pima County, he also urged the crowd to mark their ballots for other Republicans, including Congressional District 5 incumbent Rep. Andy Biggs and Brandon Martin, who is challenging incumbent Democrat Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick in District 2.

Pence landed in Tucson just before 2 p.m. after a campaign stop in Flagstaff.

He was joined at both events and on Air Force Two by McSally and Gov. Doug Ducey, both of whom spoke at the Tucson rally.

While introducing Pence, McSally drew a cheer from the crowd when she told of her recent vote to confirm Amy Coney Barrett to the U.S. Supreme Court. She called Arizona “ground zero” for the most consequential election in a generation.

The audience featured the usual sea of trademark red caps, along with a few people who wore Trump flags as capes. One man sported a T-shirt with the president’s head on Captain America’s body. Another wore a shirt that said “Social(ism) Distanced.”

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Only a small percentage of people in the crowd wore masks during the outdoor event.

Almost 230,000 people have died from COVID-19 in the U.S., the highest total of any country. But Pence, who heads up the White House coronavirus task force, praised what he called the president’s decisive action on the pandemic, especially his decision to impose a limited ban on travel to the U.S. from China.

That ban, he said, “saved untold American lives because it gave us time to stand up the greatest national mobilization since World War II” to fight the virus.

Today, he said, “we are literally a short time away, under Operation Warp Speed, from having the first safe coronavirus vaccine in the world, with tens of millions of doses for the American people.”

He stopped short of offering a specific timetable for the vaccine or to suggest, as Trump has, that the nation is “rounding the corner” on the pandemic.

His comments came amid rising coronavirus infections, hospitalizations and deaths throughout much of the country. The vice president’s own office is in the midst of an apparent outbreak, with several senior aides, including his chief of staff, testing positive for COVID-19.

Pence spoke Friday at the same spot where Trump held a rally Oct. 19 for several thousand enthusiastic supporters.

The vice president’s stops in Arizona came just two days after senator and Democratic vice presidential candidate Kamala Harris stumped in Tucson and Phoenix during a swing through the West’s surprising new swing state.

Some political analysts predict Arizona could break blue on Election Day. Except for Bill Clinton in 1996, Arizonans have voted Republican in presidential elections for the past 68 years.

Winning the Grand Canyon State would be quite an accomplishment for Biden and Harris. Bill Clinton in 1996 was the last Democratic presidential candidate to carry Arizona. The last Democrat to do it before that was Harry Truman in 1948.

Trump was in Tucson last week, and he held rallies in Bullhead City and Goodyear on Wednesday.

Friday’s event may have marked the final stop in Arizona for Trump or Pence ahead of Tuesday’s election. As of Friday, the campaign’s website showed no more trips out West for either of them between now and Monday.