Two rally stops earlier this week offered the latest glimpse into Vice President JD Vance’s cumbersome attempts to add more edge to his language, especially toward hecklers.
And … it’s reportedly not really working for him — unless you find “Napoleon Dynamite”-level insults intense.
Demonstrators heckled Vance during stops in Montana and Kansas on Monday. In Montana, Vance responded to protesters interrupting his speech by calling them “a few yahoos.”
But in Topeka, Kansas, later that day — he tried out some cursing.
Finn Gomez via Getty Images
The first instance came when he waxed poetic about how Kansas folk share an upbringing similar to his own.
“You’re a war criminal!” a protester then shouted before the MAGA-friendly crowd drowned him out by chanting “USA! USA!”
Vance appeared frustrated, then responded.
“The thing I’ve realised, having done these rallies for the last couple of weeks,” Vance said once the noise died down, “is that the only chance the Democrats have is to interrupt and shut down the debate because when we have a free and open debate, the American people will realize that all the Democrats are selling is a fat load of bullshit.”
Although some critics would say that “the fat load of BS lives in the WH” — like one user on X — Vance continued.
Pee-wee football was the topic at hand when another protester began screaming.
“Now, ladies and gentlemen, we have another bullshit artist. Excuse my language, for the kids,” Vance told the crowd in response. He then said, in a somewhat odd voice, “He’s out of here!”
This is not the first time Vance has tried to flex his potty-mouth skills at midterm election rallies. He’s been using the tactic a lot lately, and he’s not quite sticking the landing, according to a Politico report.
The outlet spoke to conservatives who felt Vance’s move of cursing, then sometimes immediately apologizing for it, comes off as staged.
“There’s something deeper about American politics where people think you can fake authenticity by cursing,” a prominent conservative commentator, who was granted anonymity, told Politico. “The thing about Trump cursing is — Trump normally curses. When he does, it’s because he talks like that.”
He added of Vance: “He feels the need, like a bad comedian, to put his thumb on it, like ‘Usha wouldn’t want me saying this.’”
Maura Gillespie, a Republican communications strategist who previously worked for former House Speaker John Boehner, said that swearing can make some politicians seem “more relatable” and “shows passion.” Gillespie added that if Vance’s sailor talk comes off as an act, there could be consequences.
“My concern then becomes in the way that it does feel very scripted for some members that do it, it’s because it comes across as inauthentic, and it actually ends up backfiring,” she said.
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