Vice President-elect JD Vance lambasted a Trump ally who called him out on social media for his absence in the Senate and inadvertently revealed what he and President-elect Donald Trump were really up to.
Grace Chong, the CFO and CEO of Steve Bannon's alt-right War Room podcast, was furious that Vance and a handful of other GOP members were skipping votes as Democrats confirmed many of President Joe Biden's federal judges before they lose control in the Senate.
After the Senate confirmed one of Biden's judges without much resistance from the GOP, Chong lashed out at Vance and Republican Florida Senator Marco Rubio, Trump's pick for Secretary of State.
Chong took to X (formerly Twitter) and wrote in a now-deleted post:
"You guys better show up and do your one fricken job!!"
"@JDVance @marcorubio and the rest of you Senate Republicans that didn’t bother to show up yesterday."
Vance retaliated with a tweet railing against Chong, calling her a "mouth breathing imbecile," and explained that even if he did show up, Republicans still wouldn't have had enough votes to block appeals court nominee Embry Kidd, whom Chong was referring to.
The VP-elect ,who is still the Ohio Senator, fumed:
"Grace Chong is a mouth breathing imbecile who attacks those of us in the fight rather than make herself useful."
"If I had shown up to the vote in question, the nominee would have succeeded 49-46 rather than 49-45."
"If every Republican had showed up, Fetterman would have come in and the Democrats still would have gotten their nominee across."
During his rant, he inadvertently revealed he and Trump's teams were looking to replace current FBI director Christopher Wray, whose term isn't up until 2027.
The tweet has since been deleted.
Vance wrote:
“When this 11th Circuit vote happened, I was meeting with President Trump to interview multiple positions for our government, including for FBI director."
“I think it’s more important to get an FBI director who will dismantle the deep state than it is for Republicans to lose a vote 49-46 rather than 49-45."
He concluded with, "But that’s just me.”
You can see a screenshot of the deleted tweet here.
@JDVance/X
The disappearing tweet confirmed speculation that Trump, who appointed Wray for a ten-year term in 2017 after firing James Comey, was looking to replace him after Wray failed to demonstrate his loyalty to Trump.
Before he left the Oval Office in 2021, Trump had publicly criticized Wray and slammed the FBI, especially for raiding Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate in search of classified documents.
Wray's statements slamming Trump's characterization of the January 6th insurrectionists as "hostages" and "unbelievable patriots" also proved the two don't see eye-to-eye.
“I see the defendants in the January 6 cases as criminal defendants who are being charged with federal crimes and are in front of independent courts as part of our legal system,” said the former Trump ally.
Social media users weighed in after Vance's loose lips exposed Trump's plot.
People were shaking their heads at Vance's tirade.
Others just grabbed some popcorn.
@ffacevonfstick.bksy.social/Bluesky
Trump indirectly reprimanded Vance by berating absent GOP Senators for not doing their part in preventing Democrats from confirming more of Biden's judges.
“The Democrats are trying to stack the Courts with Radical Left Judges on their way out the door," Trump wailed on his Truth Social platform on Tuesday, adding:
“Republican Senators need to Show Up and Hold the Line — No more Judges confirmed before Inauguration Day!”
@realDonaldTrump/Truth Social
After his clash with Chong, Vance returned to the Senate chamber and voted against federal nominee Mustafa Kasubha as a district judge for the District of Oregon.
The Senate ultimately voted 51-44 to confirm Kasubha.
@SecretaryBurgum/X
@Doug Ellin/X
@evanrachelwood/Instagram