Come for a ride in Vice President JD Vance’s motorcade throughout his stops in Kansas City

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — KSHB 41 reporter Charlie Keegan covers politics in Kansas, Missouri and at the local level. Share your story idea with Charlie.

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Vice President JD Vance hadn’t even left Washington, D.C., when my shift started in Kansas City. Vance’s team invited me and a videographer to ride in his motorcade as he crisscrossed the metro for an afternoon of events.

We got to KCI early to clear several security screenings with Secret Service agents and K-9s. Then, we loaded into a Jeep Wagoneer and waited ... more than an hour.

Finally, we saw Air Force 2 land and taxi toward the old TWA headquarters on the eastern side of the airport.

We rushed out of the Jeep and positioned our camera to get footage of the vice president walking down the steps from the airplane. It was then go, go, go back into the Jeep.

Chris Morrison/KSHB

Our first stop wasn’t even five minutes down the road at the FBI Kansas City Field Office.

Vance announced Operation Heartland Surge and Operation No Doze, two programs to prosecute fraud from COVID-era initiatives like the Paycheck Protection Program and to prevent people suspected of fraud from applying for future government-funded business loans.

Chris Morrison/KSHB

“If you’re thinking about defrauding the American taxpayer, skimming off the top, taking a program that is meant for hungry children or needy mothers, don’t do it. Go get a job," Vance said. "This administration is not going to let you steal from people."

You can watch his full speech in the video player below.

The vice president took questions from media members at the event. The first was about redistricting Missouri, a Trump administration strategy to change the congressional map to make it easier for seven Republicans to win seats in D.C., instead of the six Republicans currently in control.

This month, the U.S. and Missouri supreme courts rejected those plans, even though Missouri used the new districts for its primary in August.

RELATED | What Missouri voters should know after confusing congressional redistricting court battles

A federal appeals court judge plans to hold a hearing on the issue Thursday.

“What I find most bizarre about the Missouri redistricting debate is you already had a primary election with the districts as they exist now," Vance said. "If the courts don’t do what I think they should, you could have people who are going in the general election and casting ballots in districts that are different than the ballots they cast just a couple of months ago in the primary. That, to me, is an affront to the democratic process."

Another reporter asked about new tariffs with Canada. Missouri sends more than 30% of its exports to Canada.

“What the president is doing here, it’s not an effort to hurt anybody — certainly not in the United States or in Canada. We’re trying to make things more fair,” Vance said. “This is going to lead to a place that’s much better for American workers and, frankly, much better for Canadian workers, too.”

Once the press conference ended, the VP’s team rushed us out a back door where the Jeep was waiting.

Next, it was off to Olathe. The beauty of traveling in the motorcade is you get a police escort, you don’t have to stop at red lights, and police block all the exits and entrance ramps on the interstate, so we had the whole highway to ourselves.

I was never in a car with the vice president. Members of the media were split into two vehicles. Most of the media in the motorcade traveled with the vice president from Washington aboard Air Force 2.

We arrived at Webco, a metal fabrication facility in Olathe, a little after 1 p.m.

The room was decked out in blue flags and signs that read “Defend our future.”

Once we got the camera in place on a riser with a good view of where the rally would take place, I hunted down a bathroom. The motorcade will leave you behind, and the rush-rush approach doesn’t leave a lot of wiggle room for stops.

By the time Vance and the motorcade arrived at the campaign rally for Roger Marshall, Marshall had already spoken, as had Republican gubernatorial candidate Ty Masterson.

Chris Morrison/KSHB

They both sat in the front row, joined by Reps. Tracey Mann and Ron Estes.

Small Business Administration Director Kelly Loeffler introduced Vance by hitting on several campaign-centric accomplishments, like cutting taxes through the Big Beautiful Bill and reducing regulations. Loeffler also reiterated the administration’s crackdown on fraud she helped announce at Vance’s first stop.

The fired-up crowd chanted “USA” as Vance took the stage.

Before he could get far, a protester in the crowd shouted, “He sues his patients,” referring to a New York Times article that came out last week detailing Marshall’s approach to medical debt collection from when he was an OB/GYN in western Kansas — before jumping into politics.

The article showed Marshall sued about 800 patients, resulting in more than 100 getting arrested for failing to pay medical bills connected to his practice.

Chris Morrison/KSHB

Vance didn’t take the bait. He switched attention to Marshall’s work eliminating credit card swipe fees.

“He has been the leader on the fight against Wall Street to bring down out-of-control credit card swipe fees, which is going to make life more affordable,” Vance said.

The crowd got much more excited when Vance mentioned Republican talking points like illegal immigration and keeping transgender women from playing women’s sports.

Chris Morrison/KSHB

Vance spent the final minutes of his speech blasting Marshall’s opponent, Adam Hamilton.

He accused Hamilton’s past sermons as the lead pastor at Church of the Resurrection of being anti-Christian and “radical.”

Hamilton’s spokesperson responded in a statement, calling Vance’s visit an attempt to “distract voters from Marshall’s questionable past and struggling campaign.”

Before Vance finished his speech, the media handlers were pushing us toward the exit. It was back in the Jeep.

Even with a police escort, the drive from Olathe to the airport felt like it took forever. Also, I’d never seen so many police officers on motorcycles in one area.

Chris Morrison/KSHB

I wrapped up my day with the motorcade by recording a segment for the 5 p.m. news on the tarmac — with Air Force 2 in the background — before heading back to the news station. This time, without a police escort.

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