Vance Mocked Over Insane ‘Tone Deaf’ Answer to MAGA Voter
The vice president left commentators stunned after dodging a young conservative’s earnest question about skyrocketing housing costs.
Critics ripped Vice President JD Vance as “tone deaf” after he responded to a question about housing affordability by cracking a joke about Sen. Jon Husted’s butt during a Fox News town hall.
The awkward exchange unfolded Thursday night when Texas Christian University student Kate White, vice president of the school’s Turning Point USA chapter, challenged Vance over how Republicans expect young Americans to marry and start families when homeownership remains out of reach for many.
“A constant message that my generation hears from the right is to get married young, have kids young, have as many kids as possible, and I think what the right doesn’t acknowledge most of the time is how disincentivized we are currently because of the cost of owning a home and the general expenses of raising a family,” White said during the event in Fort Worth, Texas, hosted by Jesse Watters.

Kate White, vice president of Texas Christian University’s Turning Point USA chapter, asked the question.
Fox News
“So my question is, how does the right and yourself expect us to start families young when the average price of a home in America now costs more than $415,000, which just feels out of reach for us?”
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Rather than immediately addressing her concerns, Vance pointed out that almost nobody in the audience had asked about Husted.
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“Well, first of all, again, thank you for the question and thanks for the support,” Vance said. “I want to point out that I think that I’ve been asked four or maybe five questions by my count, I’ve only been asked one question about Jon Husted’s a-- and it was by Jesse Watters.”
Watters, who was moderator, laughed, insisting it was what people were talking about, before Vance quipped: “Maybe you should run for Senate on the Democratic side here in Texas, Jesse.”

Vance and Watters thought the vice president’s answer was a real hoot.
Fox News
The clip quickly went viral on social media, drawing fierce backlash. Former Obama speechwriter Jon Favreau asked, “How is this real and how is he this bad at politics? Or humor? Or interacting with other humans?”
Former Trump administration official Sarah Matthews posted, “I genuinely cannot believe this is a real exchange between a voter and the Vice President of the United States.”
Meanwhile, journalist Mehdi Hasan warned that “if Vance is the candidate in 2028, he will be eminently beatable.”
Vance appeared to be referencing President Donald Trump’s obsession with Husted’s behind. He has brought it up in several rallies of late.
While the opening quip ricocheted online, Vance eventually acknowledged the problem, conceding that Republicans had failed to pay sufficient attention to younger Americans’ financial difficulties.
“Most Republicans don’t… I think that I’m an exception,” he said, asserting that Trump was focused on restoring access to the American dream.
Vance blamed rising housing costs partly on undocumented immigration by prior administrations and purchases by Wall Street and foreign investors, while countering that statistics showed home listing prices falling by 2.5 percent in Texas after claiming a 100 percent increase under Biden.
Vance concluded by encouraging young people not to delay marriage: “My personal advice is one guy talking to a person who’s been in similar shoes is it’s never the right time, so go ahead and do it, because you’re never going to regret getting married and having kids.”
Watters agreed, adding: “And sometimes, you know, when you’re in love, you just get pregnant, and you figure it out. That’s not a great political answer, but it usually works well.”
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