C-SPAN recently captured footage of a JD Vance campaign stop at a donut shop in Georgia and oh, was it awkward. Vance’s interaction with the employees behind the counter was just his latest cringe moment in a campaign filled with them, and thankfully there’s video proof.
Not long after Vance went viral for all the wrong reasons after fumbling his Philly Cheesesteak order in Philadelphia, he and his film crew barged into the Georgia shop with Vance proclaiming, “The zoo has come to town. Thank you for letting us come in here.” The woman behind the counter gave Vance a cold response right away, telling him that she didn’t want to be on camera. Vance respected her wishes, turning to his camera crew and saying, “She doesn’t want to be on film, guys, so just cut her out of anything.” From there, things only got worse.
Open mouth, stick in foot
Vance went on to order two dozen donuts before trying to make small talk with the men and women behind the counter. “I’m JD Vance. I’m running for vice president,” he said, to which the woman flatly replied, “Okay.” He then asked her and the other employees how long they’d worked at the shop, and even though they told him, they made no effort to elaborate. This resulted in Vance struggling to carry the conversation, which consequently made an already-awkward situation that much more uncomfortable. When asked what kind of doughnuts he wanted, Vance said, “Just whatever makes sense.” ‘Cuz that makes sense.
Footage from the disastrous visit was shared widely on social media, which is already not boding well for Trump’s campaign in Georgia ⏤ a crucial state in the 2024 election, according to U.S. News & World Report. As with everything else Vance says and does, reactions began rolling in immediately after X viewers saw his latest blunder up close and personal. “This is a woman who doesn’t need nor want your life story. She just wants to do her job and go home. And honestly, respect. I feel that in my bones,” one commenter said. “Tell me you haven’t ordered donuts before without telling me you have not ordered donuts before. Weird AF,” added another.
Some even compared Vance’s severe lack of people skills to Homelander, the thinly-veiled MAGA anti-superhero from The Boys. Others flat-out compared Vance to Ron DeSantis.
Curiously, the footage of Vance’s inability to relate to other human beings had a completely different tone than the picture Vance’s Press Secretary Taylor Van Kirk posted on X. Thankfully, for anyone in doubt about how deeply uncomfortable this particular donut purchase was, there’s video proof, and it might be more embarrassing than accidentally ripping one in court.
Doug Landry, a political optics expert, shared the Georgia footage on X and called it “awkward,” which might be the understatement of the year. In the comments, Landry added, “Call me crazy, but I don’t think we should give the nuclear football to somebody that is flummoxed by the donut store.” Oh, he’s good. And the only person who’s crazy here is the dump who thought Vance would make a quality running mate.