Vice President JD Vance was criticized profusely after he attempted to make a joke mocking liberals during his appearance at the Ohio Republican Party dinner this week—only to have people calling out his lack of class for holding up his middle finger as he delivered the punchline.
Vance was in the middle of giving the event's keynote speech when he said the following:
“I know it’s not always easy to be a political candidate, trust me. In Washington, D.C., they have this thing, I think it means, ‘We’re No.1 in Washington, D.C.’”
At this point, he held up his middle finger, flipping off the camera, and added:
“But all the pink-haired people throw up this sign and I think, you know, that means, ‘We’re No.1,’ right?”
He then lowered his finger and concluded:
“I choose to take that as that symbol in Washington.”
You can hear what he said in the video below.
Vance's joke didn't land—and he was widely criticized in response.
Vance was called out recently for making a joke in similarly bad taste.
Last month, Vance had people cringing after he made a deportation joke while remarking how the 2026 World Cup will see visitors "from close to 100 countries" enter the U.S.
Vance told the audience that those who violate the terms of their visas will "have to talk to" Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem:
“We’ll have visitors from close to 100 countries. We want them to come, we want them to celebrate, we want them to watch the game. But when the time is up, they’ll have to go home, otherwise they’ll have to talk to Secretary Noem.”
Vance's comments came at a time when the Trump administration was facing fresh criticism for planning to deport migrants without legal status to Libya as part of its immigration crackdown.
Needless to say, those are not the kind of words that would make anyone want to visit the U.S., World Cup or not.