'How is this real?' Critics reel as JD Vance turns housing question into a crude joke

Vice President JD Vance sent critics reeling Thursday night after he was asked during a town hall about the affordability crisis — and responded with a joke about a GOP senator’s rear end.

“I genuinely cannot believe this is a real exchange between a voter and the Vice President of the United States,” wrote Sarah Matthews, former deputy press secretary during the first Trump administration.

Recorded in Fort Worth, Texas, the town hall aired on Fox News Thursday and was hosted by conservative media figure Jesse Watters. During the event, a voter pressed the vice president on the Republican Party’s pro-family messaging.

“A constant message that my generation hears from the right is to get married young, have kids young, have as many kids as possible, and I think what the right doesn’t acknowledge most of the time is how disincentivized we are currently because of the cost of owning a home and the general expenses of raising a family,” a Texas voter identified as Kate White said.

“So my question is, how does the right and yourself expect us to start families young when the average price of a home in America now costs more than $415,000, which just feels out of reach for us?”

Vance sidestepped the question entirely, pivoting instead to one of President Donald Trump’s recent fixations: the rear end of Sen. Jon Husted (R-OH).

“Sure. Well, first of all, again, thank you for the question and thanks for the support,” Vance said. “I want to point out that I think I’ve been asked four or maybe five questions by my count — I’ve only been asked one question about Jon Husted’s a--, and it was by Jesse Watters.”

Both Vance and Watters erupted in laughter after the remark, but for onlookers, Vance’s non-answer was anything but funny.

“How is this real and how is he this bad at politics? Or humor? Or interacting with other humans?” asked Jon Favreau, a prominent podcaster and former Obama speechwriter.

The Nation’s Jeet Heer described Vance’s response as being a “let them eat cake” moment, albeit one involving more “a--,” and political commentator Krystal Ball called it “tone deaf.”

Journalist and former MSNBC host Mehdi Hasan said Vance’s response was proof of his lack of political skill as a potential 2028 GOP presidential front-runner.

“If Vance is the candidate in 2028, he will be eminently beatable,” Hasan wrote. “He is an awful politician.”