Vice President JD Vance seemed to have trouble getting his words out during a recent rally appearance.
The irony of the 42-year-old Ohio native complaining about non-native English speakers while mangling his remarks did not go unnoticed.
Since joining the Republican presidential ticket in 2024, Vance has had to live in the shadow of the charismatic, popularity-obsessed head of the MAGA movement.
Some political observers at least view Vance as a more eloquent orator than his 80-year-old boss, President Donald Trump. However, that perception took a major hit this week.
Vance had a viral moment during a speech in Hendersonville, North Carolina, on Oct. 19 that left viewers questioning his mastery of the English language.
Trump’s second-in-command traveled to the Tar Heel State to campaign for Republican candidates Michael Whatley and Jennifer Balkcom.
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As the “Hillbilly Elegy” book author touted the administration’s divisive agenda, he turned his attention to bashing Democrats, Wall Street, and the prescription drug industry.
Vance centered one section of his address around the theme of “common sense.” By the time clips of the event hit social media, critics began scrutinizing his own intelligence.
“It’s common sense. Think about this. That if you’re behind a gigantic semi-truck, you ought to be able to read highway signs,” Vance told the crowd of MAGA supporters.
He continued, “Which is why we made English [proficiency] mandatory to obtain a commercial driver’s license in this state and all across our country.”
The problem with Vance’s remarks is that he struggled to pronounce “proficiency.” His slurred enunciation opened the floodgates for the internet to slam him.
For instance, one commenter on X posted, “English profrisency [sic] is obviously not a requirement for the position of Vice President.”
“Words, so many words!” an X user jokingly exclaimed. In addition, a critical tweet read, “Of all the words to flub.”
One person on the platform tweeted, “You can’t make this s–t up.” Similarly, someone wrote, “You have GOT to be f–king kidding me with this.”
Another grammar-focused poster compared Vance’s gaffe to a common spelling error by quipping, “The verbal version of ‘your [sic] dumb.’”
The negative feedback continued on Threads. A separate Vance detractor expressed, “Hahahaha! Oh gracious. This is the most idiotic administration ever.”
Vance was accused of having a dreadful batting average when it comes to aura farming in a tweet that read, “He really is the swing-and-miss guy every single time. “
One person sarcastically asked, “Then how come the current president can’t seem to manage a coherent sentence?” Likewise, another Trump critic stated, “His boss barely speaks English.”
First Llady Melania Trump also caught a stray when a poster posed, “Melania has been here for 30 years. She can barely speak English.”
Vance did not leave North Carolina without having another tongue-tied moment. Later in his speech, the Marine Corps veteran fumbled through his attempt to praise his GOP colleagues.
“Ladies and gentlemen, these are people who will never bend the knee to the far-left act… activist groups, to the far-left teachers… unions, or to the far-left universities,” Vance mumbled.
Around 20 seconds later, Vance got thrown off his script again. This time a protester standing behind the vice president interrupted his speech by yelling, “Release the Epstein files.”
Security forcibly removed the man from the venue. As he was being dragged out of the rally, the anti-Trump demonstrator repeatedly shouted, “God, bless our children.”
MAGA hat-wearing audience members responded to the disturbance by starting a “USA” chant. An annoyed-looking Vance stood silently on stage before restarting his speech.
If Vance hopes to be Trump’s successor, the Ohio State University graduate will have to learn how to channel the president’s stage presence without the baggage of his unfiltered speaking style that turns off many voters.
Even Trump is learning in real time that charisma is not enough to avoid sinking poll numbers when his policies are so loathed around the nation.
Vance can’t afford televised errors that remind the American people why so many of them view this administration as incompetent and unqualified.
