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Transcript: Vice President JD Vance Remarks in Brewer, ME – Aug 24, 2026

EDITOR’S NOTE: On August 24, 2026, Vice President JD Vance delivered remarks at Compotech, a defense technology manufacturer in Brewer, Maine. In his speech, he highlighted the Trump administration’s tax cuts, manufacturing gains, and family policies while praising local Republican leaders and calling for fairer trade with Canada. The event also served as a campaign stop supporting Maine candidates ahead of the midterms. Read the full transcrpt of the remarks below:

INTRODUCTION

VICE PRESIDENT VANCE: How are you doing, Brewer? Thank you, Loeffler.

Please, please take a seat. I want to give a thank you to our incredible, incredible small business administrator, Kelly Loeffler, who in addition to supporting our small businesses better than almost anybody else, is also one of our real MVPs when it comes to fighting fraud in the federal government. She has found tens of billions of dollars of your tax dollars and given it back to you rather than the fraudsters. So give it up for Kelly Loeffler for doing a great job. I need a few other thank yous as well.

Thank Yous

First, thanks to House Minority Leader Billy Bob Faulkingham and Senate Minority Leader Trey Stewart. Where are you guys? Stand up. And I got to give a few — got to give a few shout outs here to a few people who couldn’t be with us today. The first is Bobby Charles, who I know is running for governor.

Give a round of applause for Bobby Charles. Now Bobby has got, as you all know, an amazing record of standing up to the drug cartels and the international criminal gangs. He has been an amazing fighter for the state of Maine. He’s going to make a more amazing governor for the state of Maine. And of course, the second shout out I got to give is to my dear friend Susan Collins, the senator for Maine.

Thank you. Now, I always — whenever I’m in the great state of Maine, which is one of my favorite states, it’s beautiful, it’s got hardworking people, amazing industries. I love a state like Maine, which has got this incredible natural beauty, but is also a place of hardworking Americans. So I love to be here. And whenever I’m in Maine, I got to give Susan a little bit of crap.

Because as you know, Susan is the most independent member of the United States Senate. And as the president of the United States Senate, she sometimes makes my job just a little bit harder. But she makes it harder because she is coming to work every single day and fighting not for a political party or not for any abstraction. She comes to work every single day and she fights for the great people of Maine, and I’ve seen it. Susan has been — I’ll tell you a little story about Susan.

She has been in my house probably a half dozen times, the vice president’s residence at the Naval Observatory, and I’ve never seen a person who is more attuned to the details of every single thing. She’s always asking, “What does this do for Maine? How is this good for Maine? How is this bad for Maine?” And she tries to get as much good for this state out of Washington and as little bad out of Washington for this state, which, by the way, is a very hard job.

But she does an amazing job, and so please give it up to our very independent friend, Susan Collins. And last but certainly not least, we are here to celebrate and give a big shout out for former Governor Paul LePage, who is going to make a great congressman for the state of Maine. This guy is so much fun to be around, and his love for Maine is infectious. This is not a politician who punches the card. This is a guy who loves this state.

Paul LePage’s Record

And we got to remember, when he was the governor of this state, Maine went from a place that couldn’t pay its own Medicare bills — Paul remembers this — to a state with huge budget surpluses. And Paul didn’t just do that. Paul used those surpluses to do what? He cut your taxes, he tamped down on welfare fraud, and he eliminated the shortfalls that existed in Maine’s pension system while all at the same time protecting the most vulnerable members of this state. He stood up for you.

He stood up for retirees. He stood up for the disabled. He stood up for every law abiding citizen that required Maine’s public services to function, but to function for the people who actually paid into it and actually need it. So take it from me, a guy like Paul LePage, he is not a go along to get along politician. He is an independent minded guy, but he is independent for you.

There’s one thing I know that Paul cares about, and that’s fighting hard for his people every single day. Got to send Paul LePage to Congress. Now I’m here at Brewer to tell you that the Trump administration, we’re here to send a signal. We’re here to send a signal that we fight for you. We’re — we’re here to send a signal that we’re standing with Paul LePage.

And most importantly, we’re here to send a signal that we are standing up for the good people of Maine every single day. We’re standing up for your workers. We’re standing up for your families. We’re standing up for the incredible natural beauty of the state of Maine and every single citizen who relies on it, who enjoys it, who has made this place their home for generations. Because here’s the thing, I am sick of towns like Brewer falling behind.

Investing in Maine Manufacturing

I want towns like Brewer to get ahead. I want Brewer to thrive. We want great manufacturers like the one that we’re standing in right now, Compotech, the fastest growing manufacturer in the state of Maine.