On Monday, MAGA Republican Vice President JD Vance was aboard Air Force Two returning from Vatican City where he attended Pope Leo XIV's first mass.
News of former Democratic President Joe Biden's diagnosis with metastatic prostate cancer had been released by his office on Sunday, so press aboard the plane asked Vance for his thoughts.
Vance began with the message one would expect from a self-professed devout Christian, saying:
"First of all, of course, we wish the best for the former President’s health. You know, it sounds pretty serious, but hopefully he makes the right recovery."
But then, MAGA Republican President Donald Trump's VP swerved into territory usually reserved for the 47th POTUS's social media rants.
Vance added:
"Whether the right time to have this conversation is now or at some point in the future, we really do need to be honest about whether the former President was capable of doing the job."
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He continued with:
"You can separate the desire for him to have the right health outcome with a recognition that, whether it was doctors or whether there were staffers around the former President, I don’t think he was able to do a good job for the American people. And that’s not politics."
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The VP tried to justify his criticism, saying:
"That’s not because I disagreed with him on policy. That’s because I don’t think that he was in good enough health."
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Vance concluded by saying:
"In some ways, I blame him less than I blame the people around him. Why didn’t the American people have a better sense of his health picture?"
"Why didn’t the American people have more accurate information about what he was actually dealing with? This is serious stuff."
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You can see the moment here:
C-SPAN also shared the clip on their TikTok, Instagram, Bluesky, and Facebook accounts to reach beyond their website and X users.
Vance's commentary on President Biden's fitness for office drew criticism across all social media platforms for its lack of empathy.
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Trump's VP was also mocked for his speaking skills, lack of self awareness, and inability to read the room before spouting off about the former President’s cancer diagnosis.
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Many questioned Trump's ability to perform the duties of the President.
As well as the competence of the people in the Trump administration versus the Biden administration.
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Vance is not the first member of the Trump camp to decide to attack President Biden and his family instead of showing compassion or basic human decency upon hearing of his cancer diagnosis.
Trump's eldest son, Don Jr., also faced backlash after using the news to tweet a jab at Dr. Jill Biden.
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