Vice President JD Vance implied a top MAGA ally was fat in an unprovoked online attack.
The vice president launched the personal attack on conservative fixture Marc Thiessen in response to a tweet that made no mention of Vance.
The entire discussion began when right-wing commentator Matt Walsh said that high grocery prices were becoming a vulnerability for President Donald Trump. Turning Point USA personality Andrew Kolvet then provided anecdotal evidence on the affordability crisis from a college student’s observation of the price of burritos.
“One of our TPUSA college students gave me his take on affordability: ‘A burrito shouldn’t cost $20,’” Kolvet posted, adding a complaint about Biden-era COVID-19 policies.
In response, Thiessen appeared to defend the high burrito prices, saying college students should not be spending their money to go out for a casual meal.
“Cry me a river. The burritos in the college cafeteria are included in your meal plan,” Thiessen complained.
Vance then inserted himself in the MAGA burrito debate, launching a jab at Thiessen’s apparent eating habits.
“I’m surprised to hear Mark say this. If you’ve ever met him in person, it’s quite obvious the man has never missed a burrito,” Vance posted, misspelling Thiessen’s first name.
The Trump campaign account amplified Vance’s weight jab, calling the tweet a “banger.”
But the real bad blood between Thiessen and Vance doesn’t seem to be about Thiessen’s apparent burrito-eating habit. It appears to be retaliation for an apparent swipe that Thiessen made at Vance last week.
In an op-ed published in the Washington Post, Thiessen assessed that Vance, who has long been opposed to the U.S. military intervention in the Middle East, is actively undermining his boss’s position on Iran.
“Vance continues to publicly contradict the president’s positions,” he wrote, adding, “Perhaps it’s time for the president to take the advice of those who have delivered him success in Iran—not those like Vance who have failed him.”
Still, the Trump White House has been acutely fixated on weight.
Trump routinely mentions his mysterious “highly neurotic” and “seriously overweight” friend who he says takes “the fat shot.”
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has also declared war against “fat troops” and “fat generals and admirals,” calling them unacceptable.
Vance has been open about his weight loss journey. In 2024, he admitted that he had lost about 30 pounds since his 2022 Ohio Senate campaign, crediting diet and exercise, not weight loss medication.
More recently, Vance said he went on Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s preferred sauerkraut-heavy diet. He initially started the RFK-approved meal plan during Lent, but has continued it well past Easter.
Trump has reportedly been very complimentary of Vance’s more recent apparent weight loss, and he even gave him a public compliment of sorts.
“He’s lost weight. He got a little thinner,” Trump said of Vance in April. “I’m looking for a heavy-set gentleman, and now I find a perfect-looking specimen.”
