Vice President Vance visited battleground Georgia on Thursday to promote President Trump’s agenda bill amid criticism that Republicans are shrinking away from their signature legislative achievement.
Vance visited a refrigeration manufacturing facility in Peachtree City, where he headlined an event aimed at promoting the “working families tax cuts” in Trump’s “big, beautiful bill.”
“No matter where you are in this country, if you’re working hard and playnig by the rules, you ought to have a government that stands up for you instead of fights against you,” Vance said. “That’s why we increased the child tax credit…that’s why we eliminated taxes on overtime and on tips, and that’s why we had the biggest tax cut for families that this country has ever seen.”
Democrats have promised to make the GOP’s cuts to Social Security and Medicare the centerpiece of their messaging ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.
Former Trump strategist Steve Bannon blasted Republicans for not doing more to sell the Trump agenda bill to voters, with the GOP facing historical headwinds as the party in power.
“I haven’t seen a massive effort to sell the big beautiful bill and actually what it stands for,” Bannon said during his Wednesday “War Room” podcast, pointing to the “paucity of town halls.”
Bannon said Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) and Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) should “cancel all overseas junkets for members and force them to have town halls, meet and greets, editorial board meetings.”
“Anything to get the word out on the BBB. The supply-side tax cut needs to be sold, and it ain’t gonna sell itself,” Bannon told Politico.
“The 2026 midterms have started, and the Republicans are letting down the president,” he added.
Sen. Jon Ossoff (Ga.), who is among the most vulnerable Democrats up for reelection in 2026, told reporters that Vance is in his home state on a “damage control mission.”
“Defunding hospitals and nursing homes to cut taxes for the wealthiest people in the country is not popular here in Georgia — not where we’ve lost nine rural hospitals in a decade,” Ossoff said.
“So the vice president is here because Georgians understand that defunding hospitals and nursing homes to cut taxes for the wealthiest people is bad for Georgia,” Ossoff continued. “The vice president’s here to defend that policy. I don’t think he’ll succeed.”
MEANWHILE…
Former Vice President Kamala Harris announced Thursday she will embark on book tour across 15 cities, including in the United Kingdom and Canada, for her memoir entitled “107 Days.”
On Capitol Hill, Ian Sams, a former special assistant to former President Biden, conducted a voluntary interview with the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee on Thursday morning about Biden’s mental acuity and use of an autopen.
Oversight Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) said Thursday that testimony from Harris would be “helpful” in his panel’s probe.
This comes as Democrats are sounding the alarm over a New York Times report that found Democrats losing ground in every state that tracks voter registration. Between 2020 and 2024, Republicans added 4.5 million voters compared to Democrats in the 30 states, the analysis found.
DecisionDeskHQ data analyst Zachary Donnini notes:
“At the heart of the Democratic collapse: young White men are registering as Republicans in unprecedented numbers. Gen Z is on track to be the most pro-GOP generation since the Great Depression.”
The Hill’s Amie Parnes writes:
“The data comes as Democrats struggle to figure out how to get out of the political wilderness after losing the presidency to Donald Trump and control of both chambers of Congress to the GOP … the Democratic brand itself has taken a number of big hits, and the New York Times data is just the latest point suggesting the party has lost its way.”
