US Vice President JD Vance points to the crowd during a campaign rally at the Sharonville Convention Center, in Sharonville, Ohio, US October 21, 2026. Jacquelyn Martin/Pool via REUTERS
Vice President JD Vance became the target of widespread online mockery Wednesday after a video showed Cincinnati Bengals players seemingly ignoring him as they filed past him in the team’s locker room.
The awkward encounter unfolded during Vance’s visit to the Bengals’ facility, where he met with head coach Zac Taylor and players as they returned for practice, according to ML Football.
Charlie Clifford, sports director for NBC 5 Cincinnati, shared footage of Vance touring the locker room accompanied by a large entourage. But a second video captured a noticeably different scene.
It caught Vance standing near a walkway as players shuffled past him, most without appearing to acknowledge the vice president. One player shook his hand, but Vance eventually walked away as others continued filing through.
The footage of the vice president quickly drew ridicule online.
“Yikes. Most of them completely ignored him,” MeidasTouch posted on X.
“They almost all ignore him,” the Tennessee Holler commentary account observed.
Journalist Pedro L. Gonzalez offered a scathing assessment.
“One guy on the entire team acknowledges the existence of the vice president of the United States who is standing just feet away,” he wrote. “Humiliating.”
Ohio Politics News mocked the encounter, writing, “lmao at Vance slowly realizing none of them know who he is.”
Bengals fan Lorenzo Sorice celebrated the apparent snub in Vance’s home state, posting to his social media followers that he was “happy to see most of them ignored him.”
Evan Grace Chong, an executive with Steve Bannon’s “War Room,” appeared to jab Vance.
“I kinda feel sorry for him,” she told her social media followers, accompanied by a laughing emoji.
Political commentator and podcast host Krystal Ball summed up the moment: “Humiliating.”
Humiliating
— Krystal Ball (@krystalball) October 21, 2026