Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance accused Apple on Thursday of benefiting from Chinese slave labor.
During an appearance on CNBC, the Ohio Senator defended Donald Trump's plan to put tariffs on foreign-made goods.
Vance said that companies that want to benefit from U.S. consumers should build their products domestically and "pay American workers a fair wage."
"Do I think Apple is an evil company? 'No.' Do I think sometimes they benefit from Chinese slave labor? 'Yeah.' And that's pretty sick," Vance said.
Apple has previously stated that it works to prevent forced labor from being used across its supply chain.
Vance claimed that for a generation Wall Street has said the way to create more prosperity is to "flood the country" with cheap labor and off-source manufacturing to China, which he says uses cheap slave labor.
He then brought up Springfield, Ohio, where right-wing Republicans have repeated unfounded claims that Hattian refugees have been abducting and eating pet cats.
"You have 20,000 Hattians. Housing costs are unaffordable. Communicable diseases are on the rise and people can't afford to live a good life in this small Ohio town," Vance said.
During the presidential debate on Tuesday, Trump re-aired a baseless viral claim that migrants are eating pets.
"In Springfield, they're eating the dogs, the people that came in, they're eating the cats. They're eating the pets of the people that live there. And this is what's happening in our country," Trump said.
In Thursday's interview, Vance claimed there has been a "massive influx" of illegal labor during the Biden administration that brought skyrocketing inflation but did not explain how the two are linked.
"This is not the path to prosperity," Vance said.
