During vice presidential candidate Sen. J.D. Vance’s pit stop in Mecosta County, the Ohio politician focused on the proposed Gotion battery plant in his remarks.
The rally, which was held on Tuesday, Aug. 27, at Majestic Friesians Horse Farm, also included appearances from former GOP gubernatorial candidate Tudor Dixon, current Republican nominee for U.S. Senate in Michigan Mike Rogers and current chairman of the Michigan GOP Pete Hoekstra. Dixon, Rogers and Hoekstra’s speeches all focused on criticizing Gotion.
Vance’s comments on Gotion were based on current vice president and presidential candidate Kamala Harris’ vote on the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022.
“Now we stand very close, of course, to the new Gotion factory, right,” Vance said. “Remember the tie-breaking vote that [Harris] cast to send inflation through the roof? Remember that vote? That vote also made Chinese companies like Gotion eligible for millions of your taxpayer dollars.”
Vance furthered his point by asserting that Harris also “wants to allow the Chinese Communist Party to build factories on American soil.”
The taxpayer money Vance speaks of seemingly refers to the tax credits offered by the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 to American companies that produce electric vehicles or electric vehicle components, like the batteries that would be produced at the proposed Gotion battery plant. Gotion Inc., the U.S. subsidiary of China’s Gotion High-Tech, has been operating in the U.S. since 2014 and is an American company.
The issues arise in Mecosta County with questions of where Gotion Inc. receives its directive.
Majestic Friesians horse farm, located in Green Charter Township lies right outside of Big Rapids. The farm is owned by Lori Brock, a staunch anti-Gotion voice and a frontrunner in Mecosta County’s anti-Gotion movement. Brock lamented the company’s presence by saying that the “Chinese Communist Party showed up in our town.” In her address to the rally, Brock aimed at Gotion Inc. North American Manufacturing Vice President Chuck Thelen, dubbing him “China Chuck.” Concerns over Gotion’s connection to the Chinese Communist Party have been raised by the anti-Gotion crowd since the public found out the full extent of the project.
The horse farm is no stranger to political rallies, as former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy held a rally against Gotion there in Oct. of 2023.
Among the 2,000 people estimated to have attended the rally were Ferris students. Automotive engineering sophomore Noah Gordon and business sophomore Zach Connor attended the rally to support Vance and his points.
“I’m looking at just how expensive everything is,” Connor said. “You can say whatever you want about Donald Trump. But under his presidency, everything was way cheaper under him. Everything was more affordable. Housing, gas prices, you name it. It was just a lot better under Trump than under Biden and Harris.”
Gordon echoed Connor’s support with the hope that Trump and Vance “can get in and fix this mess that [Biden and Harris] caused.”
Opposition to Vance and his rally was present, as a protest was held just over three miles away from the Majestic Friesians horse farm at Stone Hatchery Park. Around 30 people showed support for Gotion’s proposed battery plant while others criticized Vance.
President of both Ferris Democrats resident student organization and Bulldogs for Harris RSO, sports communication junior Jonathen Hart, joined the protest and questioned the Republican candidates’ reasoning for a rally in Mecosta County.
“Listening to what we were hearing about at the rally, [Vance] spoke a lot less about Gotion than people thought he would,” Hart said. “In our opinion, that shows that J.D. Vance and the Trump administration are trying to use Gotion as a way to enter the minds and the feelings of the Mecosta people to make them believe that they are correct in using them as puppets.”
[Quote close subject to change] Hart believed the protest to be a “great event” with “a lot of success.” To catch up with the conservative rallies held in Mecosta County, Hart shared plans to bring Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel along with other unconfirmed high-profile Democrats to the area to speak.
With Michigan being a battleground state, it should be expected for both presidential candidates and vice presidential candidates to return to the state in the next 62 days. However, it’s unclear how much more political action Mecosta County will receive during this election cycle.
Ferris’ College Republicans RSO could not be reached for comment.
Jonathen Hart was previously employed by the Ferris State Torch.