JD Vance Tells Crowd to Vote Against ‘Crazy Leadership in DC’

JD Vance went to Kansas City on Monday to sell the Trump administration’s manufacturing agenda. What he left with was a viral moment that had Democrats cheering and the internet in full roast mode.

Speaking at Milbank Manufacturing Company in Kansas City, Missouri, the 41-year-old vice president was rallying support ahead of the midterm elections when he delivered a line that stopped the room — and not in the way he intended.

“What I will ask you is if you want to make America great, if you want to protect your jobs and hopefully build jobs in this beautiful factory, if you want to make our streets even safer, if you want to rebuild the American dream for the next generation, vote against the crazy leadership in Washington, D.C.,” Vance told the crowd.

The crowd applauded. Then Vance paused. Then came the cleanup.

He quickly reframed the line, telling attendees he was referring to congressional Democrats: “Vote against the congressional leadership that will stand up and say ‘we care more about illegal aliens than we do American citizens,’ and vote for the leaders in Congress who have promised they are going to fight for you.”

But it was too late. The original clip was already out there.

The Internet Didn’t Miss It

Democrats clipped the moment and posted it on X alongside a photo of Donald Trump flanked by Republican lawmakers at the White House, captioned simply: “The crazy leadership in Washington, DC.” The thing spread fast.

“He’s right, Republicans control everything in Washington,” one person wrote. “Yes, vote against the crazy leadership. Who wrote this speech?” said another. A third kept it simple: “Thanks JD…heard loud and clear.”

Others went harder. “JD Vance calls Washington leadership ‘crazy’ and asks you to vote against it. He IS Washington’s leadership,” one user pointed out, before rattling off a list: “Under his watch: A war nobody asked for. Food prices at a four-year high. A president with 3,700 stock trades in three months. 55 midnight posts demanding arrests of political opponents.”

“Einstein not realizing his party controls the White House, the senate, and the house,” someone else added. “For someone who wrote a book, he definitely doesn’t understand the term ‘irony,’” cracked another.

“Is he campaigning for Democrats or Republicans?” was perhaps the most cutting question of the day.

Kansas City Wasn’t Exactly Charmed Either

The online mockery was one thing. But locally, the reception wasn’t much warmer. Kansas City Star opinion columnist Mará Rose Williams wrote a sharp takedown of the visit, arguing Vance had done almost no homework before showing up.

Vance claimed Missouri Governor Mike Kehoe had “moved quickly” to produce a Republican-friendly redistricting map following a Supreme Court ruling — but Williams noted that map was drawn a year ago. He also appeared not to know the name of Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, the Democrat who has represented Kansas City in Congress for over 20 years and won 11 consecutive elections.

“You mean to tell us that you came into our state, our city, and didn’t care enough to find out who represents us in Congress?” Williams wrote. “That would be lazy and dismissive.”

Perhaps more telling: Vance’s team never even reached out to Michael Eaton, the executive director of the Missouri Association of Manufacturers — the actual voice of the state’s manufacturing sector. Eaton said he hadn’t even known the vice president was coming to town.

“If I had JD Vance standing right in front of me, I would tell him we are the voice of manufacturing in Missouri,” Eaton told the columnist. “Where is their voice? You forgot to invite manufacturing to the table. We are never invited to the table. We are not even on your radar.”

Williams was blunt about what the visit actually was: “That plant just happened to be the backdrop for a campaign speech. It was never intended to be a ‘we really care what the workers need’ speech.”

Then There Was the Sock Joke

The “crazy leadership” line wasn’t even the only thing that backfired on Monday. Vance also tried his hand at some light comedy — and the internet had opinions about that too.

After complimenting Missouri Secretary of State Denny Hoskins on his blazer, Vance launched into a story about Trump’s dress code preferences, explaining that the president notices when anyone strays from a “solid navy blue jacket.”

“I learned this the hard way,” Vance said. Last St. Patrick’s Day, as tradition dictates, he hosted Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin at the Naval Observatory before heading to the Oval Office for a meeting in front of roughly 100 TV cameras. Vance decided to mark the holiday with a little festive flair — shamrock socks.

“We’re sitting down in front of God and everybody and probably 100 TV cameras on a live press conference, and the President starts his remarks, and then he looks over and says, ‘What is going on with those socks?’”

The MAGA crowd laughed. The internet did not.

The sock story also fits a broader pattern around Trump’s well-documented sartorial standards — he’s reportedly been handing out $145 Florsheim leather oxford dress shoes to Cabinet members and White House advisers, telling “The Brian Kilmeade Show” in March, “I don’t want my Cabinet members wearing sneakers.”

“He didn’t learn from the ridiculous Home Alone joke that flopped in a crowd full of boomers in Maine,” wrote Mason, a political commentator and Iraq war veteran, on X. “He has the charm of a rattlesnake, and the same sense of humor,” added Paul Healey on X. On Bluesky, former NASA engineer and retired tech executive Lee Phillips put it most succinctly: “I got news for you J.D. The socks and suit aren’t the problem.”

It’s not the first time Vance’s attempts at humor have landed with a thud. Back in February, he tried to joke about Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez at an event and was met with complete silence from the crowd.

All of This With 2028 Already Looming

The Kansas City trip comes as Vance’s name continues to circulate as a top Republican contender for the 2028 presidential race — a prospect that Trump himself has been toying with publicly, and not always kindly.

During a Fortune magazine interview on May 11, Trump was asked about the 2028 ticket — Vance, Marco Rubio, or Donald Trump Jr. — right as Vance walked into the room. Trump didn’t pick sides. “Whoever gets this job is going to be very important,” he said. “And if you get the wrong person: disaster.”

At a White House dinner during National Police Week, Trump conducted an impromptu audience poll, asking attendees to clap for either Vance or Rubio as their preferred 2028 candidate, then pulled back from endorsing either. “I do believe that’s a dream team,” Trump said. “But these are minor details. That does not mean you have my endorsement under any circumstance.”

Vance has tried to play it cool, likening Trump’s public polling to a reality show and joking that “it doesn’t sound right for the United States to have a televised competition for who would succeed him as his apprentice.” He’s also insisted he’s focused on the job he has now.

“I think the American people are so fed up with folks who are already running for the next job seven months into the current one,” Vance said. “There are a lot of great people. I think if I do end up running it’s not going to be given to me either on the Republican side or on the national side. So I’m just going to keep on working hard.”

For now, though, “vote against the crazy leadership in Washington, D.C.” is doing a lot of the talking for him.