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Western Australia Premier Apologizes for Calling JD Vance a ‘Knob’

“I didn’t mean any offense,” Roger Cook told reporters after the comment.

Western Australia’s premier Roger Cook apologized Monday night ET for calling Vice President JD Vance a “knob.” During the West Australian’s Leadership Matters event in Perth, a journalist asked Cook to complete the sentence, “JD Vance is a...,” to which the premier replied “knob”—the Aussie slang or insult equivalent of “idiot” or “obnoxious.” “You’ve got to have one unprofessional moment, don’t you? That was it,” Cook then said, earning laughs and applause from the audience. At a press conference following the event, the premier clarified that he didn’t mean any offense by the comment and was just having fun. “It was a light-hearted, non-professional moment and I didn’t mean any offense,” Cook told reporters. “When I made the comments there was a lot of applause around the room so perhaps some people enjoyed the fun that came with it,” he continued. “Other people might have been offended and I apologize.”