Vice President JD Vance pretended to wrestle with his conscience briefly on Wednesday before making a mean-spirited joke about former President Joe Biden during a speech at Naval Air Station Oceana in Virginia Beach.
Sadly for the vice president, but happily for human decency in general, his attempt at humor was greeted with stone faces by the troops in attendance.
Vance's Remarks and the Troops' Reaction
Vance began his remarks with “It’s amazing to be here,” before revealing what was really on his mind. “You know what I’m thinking as I’m coming down the steps is don’t fall and bust your ass in front of all of you and in front of all these cameras, because they would never let me live that one down,” he said.
Vance then referenced “the previous president,” and admitted he was facing a personal dilemma: “I’m trying to be nonpartisan.”
The vice president then made a reference to the popular trope in cartoons where a character discusses pressing moral issues with an angel on one shoulder and the devil on the other.
“You ever seen these old cartoons where you have the angel on the shoulder and the devil on the shoulder?” Vance asked, before explaining, “I’ve got the angel on my shoulder saying, ‘JD, don’t be partisan. We’re going to make this nonpartisan.’”
“And then I’ve got the devil on my shoulder who wants to talk about every time that Joe Biden fell up or down the stairs. And the media didn’t care about that. But if I did it one time, if I did it one time, it would be a major, major story.”
Video of the speech shows service members behind Vance remaining largely expressionless during the joke.
Mediaite Notes Biden's Spills
Mediaite noted that while Biden “had a handful of spills” while in office, Vance was likely referencing the 2023 U.S. Air Force Academy graduation when the then-80-year-old president tripped and fell on a sandbag onstage. Like Vance, former President Donald Trump has also made jokes about Biden’s stumbles, though Trump's own clumsiness has been pointed out.
Social Media Backlash
Vance’s attempt at humor at Biden’s expense was not well-received on social media. Jon Favreau tweeted, “JD Vance, once again providing an answer to the question: What would happen if you drained all of the charisma from Donald Trump?” MeidasTouch commented, “And the crowd went mild.” David Axelrod called it “Such an unnecessary, gratuitous, dick move.” Others noted the irony of Vance’s devil-or-angel remarks coming as he promotes a new book about his late-in-life conversion to Catholicism, with one user saying, “He chooses the Devil.”
