US Vice President JD Vance boards Air Force Two ahead of Tuesday's midterm elections, at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, US, November 2, 2026. Tom Brenner/Pool via REUTERS
Vice President JD Vance called a Democratic congressional candidate an “a------,” then traced his swearing to his grandmother, a “devout Christian” who “loved the F-word.”
Vance spoke Monday at an election-eve rally in Rome, New York, for Republican Anthony Constantino. His target was Constantino’s Democratic opponent in the 21st Congressional District, farmer Blake Gendebien.
Vance opened his speech with a joke about his 4-year-old daughter, who he said brought him two of her brother’s toys to donate to Toys for Tots.
“I realized that despite my best efforts, ladies and gentlemen, I have apparently raised a Democrat,” he said. “Stealing her brother’s toys to give to somebody else.”
Vance said he likes going after Democratic candidates before he turned to Gendebien.
“This is unfair, ladies and gentlemen, and it breaks my heart, because I’m really a sweetheart,” Vance said of his media critics. “You know that? But some people say that I’m an attack dog."
“And I will say that I do like the part where I get to talk about how crazy these lunatics are who run on the other side,” he continued.
“He says that kids in the North Country lack, quote, ‘practical independence’ and, quote, ‘the ability to think,’” Vance said of Gendebien before launching into a profane insult. “What an a------, ladies and gentlemen!”
“JD! JD! JD!” the Republican crowd cheered.
The Daily Gazette reported that line came from a 2013 interview. In it, Gendebien said Hispanic workers were better than local kids, who “don’t have practical independence and an ability to think and the knowledge these guys do,” according to North Country Now.
Vance’s version left out any context.
“I’m not a politician, I was a tired farmer, and I spoke plainly,” Gendebien said last year, North Country Now reported. He added that he could have worded things better.
Vance cited his grandmother's faith in God to excuse his language.
“I apologize to the parents out there,” Vance said moments after the insult. “I see a few kids. Listen to your parents. Do not talk like the vice president of the United States.”
“I was raised by a grandmother who, by the way, was the most devout Christian, a person who loved the Lord more than any person I have ever met in my entire life,” he went on. “But my Mamaw, she also loved the F-word. And I’ve got both those things in me, ladies and gentlemen.”
Vance has offered that explanation before. In a clip Fox News posted on X last month, he said he sometimes slips up because he was “raised by a grandmother who cursed like a sailor.”
Monday’s cursing was not the first time Vance has aimed profanity at critics. At a 2024 rally in Racine, Wisconsin, he said “dipsh—” was the best term for a supporter of then-Vice President Kamala Harris, NBC News reported.
As vice president, he told UnHerd that “anyone who attacks my wife … can eat s—,” according to Fox News.
Vance also tied Gendebien to New York’s top Democrats.
“Blake is actively bragging that he is owned and controlled by Kathy Hochul and Hakeem Jeffries,” Vance shouted, referring to Gov. Kathy Hochul (D-NY) and House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY).
The crowd booed and chanted “Ditch the witch!” in what NBC News described as an apparent reference to Hochul, who is seeking reelection.
“I don’t endorse it,” Vance said. “But for those who can’t hear it, they’re chanting ‘ditch the witch’ on TV. … That’s a proper and appropriate Halloween message.”
“I’m not necessarily endorsing it,” he added. “I wouldn’t want anybody to think that I would necessarily say that, but ditch the witch!”