In a campaign rally held in St. Cloud, Minnesota, Republican vice-presidential candidate JD Vance unleashed criticism towards the media and Vice President Kamala Harris. Vance accused the media of misleading the public about Harris and President Joe Biden, stating that they had previously portrayed Biden as Abraham Lincoln and were now equating Harris to Martin Luther King Jr.

Vance's remarks come as Harris seeks to capitalize on her historic candidacy as the first Black woman and person of south Asian descent to be a major party presidential nominee. A recent poll in Michigan revealed that no Black voters supported former President Donald Trump, while 82.1 percent expressed support for Harris.

On July 21, Biden announced his decision not to seek reelection and endorsed Harris, who has since become the presumptive nominee to replace him as the Democratic Party's frontrunner. Vance dismissed any comparison between Harris and MLK, just as he deemed Biden's comparison to Lincoln as unfounded.

President Trump, who joined Vance at the rally, has been vocal in his opposition to the media since his 2016 presidential campaign. Trump coined the term "fake news" to critique negative press coverage regarding himself. Following Biden's widely criticized debate in Atlanta, prominent Republicans, including Vance, accused the president of being unfit for office and accused Harris of covering up his cognitive decline.

Lately, Vance and Trump have escalated their attacks on Harris, painting her as an extremely left-wing candidate and out of touch with moderate voters. They have also held her responsible for the ongoing border crisis, claiming that she has failed to address the issue adequately. Vance specifically criticized Harris for not engaging with the appointed chief of border patrol and accused the current administration of granting work permits to millions of illegal immigrants, which they argue is detrimental to American jobs and wages.

Since March 2021, Harris has been referred to by the media as the "border czar" after Biden tasked her with overseeing diplomatic efforts with Mexico and Central American countries to address the root causes of migration. Customs and Border Protection data reveals that more unauthorized migrants have entered the United States monthly under the Biden administration, compared to the previous Trump administration.

Newsweek reached out to both the Trump/Vance campaign and the Harris campaign for comment but received no response as of yet. The intense political back-and-forth between the Republican candidates and the media continues to shape the narrative leading up to the 2024 elections.