Vice President JD Vance is traveling to Bangor on Thursday for an event near the Bangor International Airport.
He will speak at 12:30 p.m., Jason Savage, executive director of the Maine Republican Party said in a email Monday.
It’s unclear if Vance will announce any new policies, but at a press conference in Washington earlier this week he said he plans to support Paul LePage, the former two-term Republican governor who is seeking the 2nd District seat in Congress.
“We’re going to campaign a little bit with Paul LePage and talk about the fraud efforts we have going on and talk about a few other things as well,” Vance said.
On Wednesday, he announced a six-month nationwide moratorium on new home healthcare agencies and hospices over fraud concerns.
Protests are expected. Progressive groups, including Indivisible Bangor, the Maine People’s Alliance and Activate Maine are planning an event at 9:30 a.m. calling for the end of hostilities against Iran and an end to the administration’s immigration crackdown. Democrats running for Congress and the Blaine House are likely to speak.
Vance wraps up remarks
Vance wrapped up shortly before 1:30. Attendees are slowly making their ways toward the doors, sometimes posing for photos.
“I know y’all don’t like Janet Mills — I don’t especially care for her, either,” Vance said. “But I would love to work with the governor of Maine and stop the fraud that’s being portrayed in the state.”
The crowd jeered and booed the reporter.
“It’s ok,” Vance said. “We have biased reporters in every state.”
Vance then said his efforts in Maine to root out fraud were just beginning.
Will Vance endorse in the Maine governor’s race?
A journalist asked the vice president if he plans to endorse in the Maine governor’s race.
Vance congratulated all of the candidates running, but did not say he was backing a specific person.
Vance touts rural health care stabilization fund from One Big Beautiful Bill Act
A journalist asked Vance how how needy Mainers can get healthcare if federal funding to MaineCare is cut in an effort to crack down on fraud.
Vance touted the Trump administration’s move to put billions of dollars in a rural healthcare stabilization fund. That was part of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which also made hundreds of billions in cuts to Medicaid while cutting taxes, primarily for the wealthy.
Mills and the feds had a lengthy back and forth about the state’s anti-fraud effort earlier this year.
“She showed up to advocate for the right to men to play in women’s sports,” Vance said.
“There are fraudsters out there who were getting a million dollars of your money and the government wasn’t even paying attention to it,” he said.
Outside the Vance rally, the crowd of protesters thins
A few dozen protesters milled around outside the rally, while the vice president spoke. But the crowd had thinned out by early afternoon.
Vance gives Sen. Susan Collins a shoutout
Vance noted that Sen. Susan Collins is in Washington D.C. preserving her long voting record.
Vance, a former colleague of Collins in the Senate, defended her for not always towing the party. He said she’s representing her state well.
“I get frustrated with Susan Collins,” Vance said. “I wish that she was more partisan, but the thing I love about Susan is she is independent because Maine is an independent state, and frankly, if she was as partisan as I sometimes wish that she was, she would not be a good fit for the people of Maine.”
Vance takes the stage
Vance opens by asking where they should get lobster rolls.
Eagle’s Nest in Brewer seems to be the consensus.
The crowd awaits Vance
The 300 or 400-strong Bangor crowd is now playing a waiting game. It appears Vance’s plane has landed, but he’s yet to arrive onstage.
While they wait, attendees have been treated to rock and country hits such as ‘It’s Five O’Clock Somewhere’ by Jimmy Buffet and Alan Jackson; ‘Born Free’ by Kid Rock and ‘Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue (The Angry American)’ by Toby Keith.
A list of items not allowed inside the Vance rally
• Aerosols
• Alcoholic beverages
• Balloons
• Balls
• Banners, signs, placards
• Drones and other unmanned aircraft systems
• E-Cigarettes
• Explosives of any kind (including fireworks)
• Firearms
• Glass, thermal and metal containers
• Laser lights and laser pointers
• Mace and/or pepper spray
• Noisemakers, such as air horns, whistles, drums, bullhorns, etc.
• Packages
• Spray containers
• Structures
• Supports for signs/placards
• Weapons
• And any other items that may pose a threat to the security of the event as determined by and at the discretion of the security screeners.
LePage blamed Gov. Janet Mills for failing to prosecute welfare fraud when she served as attorney general during his eight years in the Blaine House.
“JD Vance being here today is a warning shot to every fraudster, scam artist and corrupt bureaucrat protecting our broken system,” LePage said. “It’s time to squash it.”
Democratic hopeful slams Vance visit
Former Maine Senate President Troy Jackson, who’s seeking the Democratic nomination for governor on June 9, criticized Vance’s visit in a statement.
“JD Vance wants to lecture us about waste while he and his boss have blown $50 billion on the first two months of a forever war they promised not to start,” said Jackson. “Pay for our gas you blowhard.”
Maine has a problem, Republican lawmaker says
State Rep. Chad Perkins, R-Dover Foxcroft, said Maine needs a governor and attorney general who are focused on fraud. And it needs a Legislature that will work with them.
Perkins said Vance’s visit shows Maine has a problem that must be addressed.
“Today, it seems that the White House is more concerned about the people of Maine than the White House,” Perkins said. “It seems like the White House is more concerned about our taxpayer dollars, than the people down in Augusta.”
Maine Wire conservative journalist a featured speaker
Maine Wire Editor in Chief Steve Robinson is a featured speaker at the Vance rally.
His conservative news website has been reporting on alleged fraud in the MaineCare system for months.
Robinson said his reporting has focused on newly licensed providers since Gov. Janet Mills took office. He’s also focused on expanded programs using federal dollars stemming from the COVID 19 pandemic. He said numerous foreign born businesspeople became providers post-COVID.
‘Welfare should be a hand up to the truly needy, not a hand out’
Ahead of the Thursday event, LePage wrote a message on his Facebook page.
“As Governor I fought welfare fraud. I know what it is like to struggle, to be in poverty,” LePage wrote. “Welfare should be a hand up to the truly needy, not a hand out. Every dollar of fraud is a dollar stolen from taxpayers and not used to help those who truly need assistance.”
“His association with the Trump administration is an absolute betrayal of his oath as a Marine and to the U.S. Constitution,” Winter, 46, said.
Former Gov. Paul LePage greeted warmly
Former Gov. Paul LePage received enthusiastic applause from those waiting to enter the rally.
‘Drop the files not the bombs’
Protesters in masks carried a sign outside the event with a picture of Trump and Jeffrey Epstein, the dead, disgraced financier and convicted sex offender.
“Drop the files not the bombs,” the sign read, a reference to the American bombing campaign in the Middle East and the government’s dossier on Epstein.
“I never got this experience, and the school was excited that they took it off to come up here,” Theriault said.
Her fiance, Kenneth Pinard, 35, said he experiences challenges with fraud and illegal immigration every day.
Pinard said he hopes voters will give Republicans a chance to run the state this fall.
“I’d really like to see Maine become a red state, because I think as long as Maine stays a blue state, the people that originally resided here are going to be chased out of here,” he said.
Theriault said she plans vote for Republican Susan Collins this fall, but she is concerned about her age.
Is she giving a chance to her likely opponent, Graham Platner, who is running a populist campaign?
“No, absolutely not, Theriault said.
Other signage referred to U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, as “spineless” and said “No Secret Police” to criticize Immigration and Customs Enforcement actions.
“We have a lot of illegals in the state, and they’re allowed to come here, and they’re taking away homes and jobs from hardworking Mainers,” she said. “We can’t get benefits, but you see them getting our benefits, you know?”
Movement through the gate was slow, with each attendee being thoroughly searched and screened.
Occasional chants of “USA” helped pass the time.
Some attendees shouted at a small group of protesters across the street.
Another sign of hers featured an image of Vance and a lobster with the message: “VANCE WAS SCARED OF A LOBSTER.”
“I’m the black sheep in my family,” Little said, pointing to her sweater.
She wants Vice President JD Vance to hold Gov. Janet Mills accountable for her 8 years in office.
“I have a feeling it’s gonna open up a big can of worms on Janet Mills, and I’m excited for that,” Little said.
This fall, Robinson is supporting Republican Susan Collins for U.S. Senate. She’s expected to face Graham Platner, an oyster farmer and combat veteran.
Robinson doubts Trump supporters will support Platner’s populist campaign.
“There’s no way someone supports both those two people, he said of Trump and Platner. “If they do, they’re very confused. That guy (Platner) is infuriating.”
“Years of radical incompetence from Augusta Democrats like Matt Dunlap and Joe Baldacci have left Mainers with less money in their pockets, without the care they need, and a government riddled with fraud,” said National Republican Congressional Committee spokesperson Maureen O’Toole.” Mainers deserve better, and they can trust Paul LePage to work with President Trump and Vice President Vance to continue lowering taxes, making communities safer, and rooting out waste, fraud, and abuse from government.”
National Democrats, meanwhile, criticized LePage, who’s awaiting a Democratic challenger in the November general election. The
“JD Vance’s trip to Bangor is just another desperate attempt to distract Mainers from the war Paul LePage and his extremist buddies in Washington are waging on their health care,” said Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee spokesperson Riya Vashi. “If Vance wants to talk about scams, he should talk about Republicans’ Big, Ugly Bill, which is already kicking tens of thousands of Mainers off Medicaid, putting rural hospitals across the district at risk of closure, and gutting Maine’s health care system to fund massive tax breaks to billionaires.”
Scenes from Bangor today
The DCCC is backing Baldacci in the Democratic primary for Maine’s second Congressional district. Baldacci, a former Bangor mayor and city councilor from one of Maine’s well-known political families, is running aginst State Auditor Matt Dunlap, ex-Capitol Hill operative Jordan Wood and social worker Paige Loud in the June 9 primary.
We invite you to add your comments. We encourage a thoughtful exchange of ideas and information on this website. By joining the conversation, you are agreeing to our commenting policy and terms of use. More information is found on our FAQs. You can update your screen name on the member's center.
Comments are managed by our staff during regular business hours Monday through Friday as well as limited hours on Saturday and Sunday. Comments held for moderation outside of those hours may take longer to approve.
Join the Conversation
Please sign into your CentralMaine.com account to participate in conversations below. If you do not have an account, you can register or subscribe. Questions? Please see our FAQs.