Vice President JD Vance has once again found himself stepping into a cringey situation in an attempt to possibly impress President Donald Trump. Barely a day after Trump himself used a bold curse word with reporters on the White House lawn, Vance decided to flip the bird during a dinner speech. Perhaps proving why so many people can’t stand Vance, the vice president tried to make his “pink haired” critics the butt of a joke, and accidentally came out looking a bit of a fool. In a video that was posted on X, Vance can be seen saying, “In Washington, D.C. they have this thing, I think it means we’re number one.” At this point, he performs the lewd gesture of raising his gangly middle finger.
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Vance throws a middle finger up on live TV and trump drops an F bomb this morning.
Classy duo. pic.twitter.com/FsMGkqd7vb
— JerryRigEverything (@ZacksJerryRig) June 25, 2025
While Vance certainly has a shady side, it doesn’t seem to have helped him throw any remarkable shade on his perceived enemies. As can be heard in the video, and reaffirmed by another commenter, Vance “Clearly did not get the laughter response he was planning for.” This strange exchange from Vance does point to an ongoing trend — the vice president is doing his best to suck up to Trump, perhaps to avoid the possibility of getting kicked to the curb.
Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, so we’re surprised Vance hasn’t copied more of Trump’s persona and style. However, there was something else Vance said in his speech that might explain why he’s willing to embarrass himself by following in Trump’s out-of-pocket behavior.
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JD Vance didn’t think Donald Trump would pick him to be vice president
According to the Independent, following his attempt at making the middle finger, JD Vance went on to divulge that he had no idea Donald Trump was going to pick him as running mate. Apparently Trump waited until the last minute to let Vance know he was chosen — and Vance almost missed the opportunity entirely. While traveling to the Republican National Convention, Vance missed a call from Trump. When he called Trump back, the response he got was, “JD, you just missed a very important phone call.” Vance admitted to the crowd that Trump then told him he was going to “have to select somebody else now.” Obviously Trump was kidding and still offered the gig to Vance.
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Taking all this into account, it sort of makes sense that Vance all but disappeared during the first few weeks of Trump’s presidency. But now it seems that Vance is finally emboldened to make more of a splash. So, after Trump himself said that the conflict in the Middle East between Israel and Iran is due to the fact that, “they don’t know what the f*** they’re doing,” it makes sense that Vance would feel the need to also be a bit crude. Not only does it reinforce the image his boss is presenting, it also gives Vance a boost of attention — which he just might need after months of wallowing in the shadow of Elon Musk.
