Vice President JD Vance has a signature campaign-trail move, but some on the right suspect it’s more performance than personality.
Vance has made a habit of swearing in speeches and then making a show of apologizing for it, and a prominent conservative commentator told Politico for a Thursday report that the routine looks staged.
"There's something deeper about American politics where people think you can fake authenticity by cursing," said the commentator, who was granted anonymity to speak freely about the vice president.
The commentator drew a contrast with President Donald Trump, who has long been known for his salty language. When Trump swears, the commentator said, "It's because he talks like that." Vance, by the commentator's account, doesn't usually talk that way in private, which makes his public cursing stand out even more.
"He feels the need, like a bad comedian, to put his thumb on it like 'Usha wouldn't want me saying this,'" the commentator said.
Politico's review of a sample of Vance's recent remarks turned up several examples of the pattern. In Ohio, he called something "cowardly bulls—" before apologizing to children in the crowd. In Georgia, he said critics were "full of s—" and then noted his wife had spent years trying to clean up his vocabulary. In Milwaukee, he said someone needed their "a— thrown the hell out of Washington" and pinned the language on his grandmother.
At a launch event for the America.gov website, Vance recalled warning developers against letting it turn into a "clusterf—" before adding, "Whoops. Sorry. Excuse me. Hopefully no kids in the back."
Not everyone sees an act. Republican strategist Garrett Ventry, a Vance ally, pushed back on the idea.
"Knowing and seeing JD behind the scenes, that is just generally how he talks in real life," Ventry said.
Republican communications strategist Maura Gillespie said she couldn't speak to whether Vance's cursing is genuine, but warned that the tactic can hurt politicians when it feels rehearsed.
"It comes across as inauthentic, and it actually ends up backfiring," Gillespie said.
A senior White House official defended the vice president's language as a feature of the Trump administration.
"Sometimes using saltier language conveys a point across more directly than if you were to give 1,000 words on something," the official said, adding, "This White House, this administration is no bulls—."
Spokespeople for Vance did not respond to Politico's request for comment.