RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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See the full story · 2 sourcesVice President JD Vance refuses to apologize to columnist Marc Thiessen, and said: ‘I don’t think that there’s anything wrong with being a little spicy from time to time’
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Vice President JD Vance has refused to apologize for making a fat-shaming joke about a fellow conservative, instead insisting: “I feel pretty good about that.”
Vance went after right-leaning columnist and former White House speechwriter Marc Thiessen on X Wednesday after the pundit responded unsympathetically to a post by Turning Point USA spokesman Andrew Kolvert, who said a college student had recently complained about the affordability crisis by telling him: “A burrito shouldn’t cost $20.”
“Cry me a river,” Thiessen sniped . “The burritos in the college cafeteria are included in your meal plan.”
The vice president then mocked the pundit by chiming in with: “I’m surprised to hear Mark [sic] say this. If you’ve ever met him in person, it’s quite obvious the man has never missed a burrito.”
Vance in turn was hit on social media with a series of unflattering photographs of himself as a portly, beardless younger man, as well as an AI image in which he was portrayed devouring a corndog.
Vance was subsequently asked about his trolling during a phone interview with Hugh Hewitt on the Salem News Channel Thursday, an appearance made to promote his new book, Communion: Finding My Way Back to Faith .
“Yesterday you took a punch at Marc online from the burrito thing,” Hewitt said. “So I’m curious, do you ever regret that night that you took a punch at a fellow Catholic in your parish?”
“You know, it was a joke, Hugh,” the vice president answered. “I think there are ways in which you’re allowed to punch back, and you’re allowed to be a little bit humorous.
“I’m sure it was not as charitable as I should have been, but, you know, one thing is – look, I think he’s a good Catholic. I certainly wish him the best. I think he’s been a little unfair to me over the last couple of weeks, and so I decided to hit back with a little spice.
“I will say that if you read the Gospel, you know, Jesus has remarkable humility. He also has a remarkable way with words. And so I’m always going to fall short of that example, but I don’t think that there’s anything wrong with being a little spicy from time to time.
“And, you know, maybe in two years you’ll look back and say, ‘I wish I hadn’t said that,’ but right now I feel pretty good about that.”
Thiessen has not directly addressed Vance’s insult but did reply with an enthusiastic “Amen!” to another X user complaining about conservatives “punching right,” rather than focusing on the issues at hand.
However, Thiessen has been critical of the vice president recently, particularly over Iran , notably when he guested on Fox News’s The Big Weekend Show late last month and accused him of undermining President Donald Trump’s position .
Discussing Vance’s appearance on Joe Rogan’s podcast on which he had warned against the U.S. sending troops into the Middle East, the commentator complained: “He seems to be going off, off base, a lot, and contradicting the president a lot in public lately, and it’s not helpful.”
He also attacked Vance in an editorial for The Washington Post in June for mischaracterizing Trump’s attitude, quoting him suggesting that even if Tehran did not sign a peace deal, the U.S could walk away happy, so long as the Strait of Hormuz was open, because “we’ve still done incredible damage to their nuclear program, and we can get on with our lives as a country.”
“High-level sources in the White House have assured me that this is not Trump’s position,” Thiessen wrote. “His position is: They’ll comply or they will get blown up.”
Vance was not the only conservative to receive an angry response over their contribution to the debate stirred by Kolvert’s burrito post.
Outgoing Texas Republican Rep. Dan Crenshaw caused an uproar by writing : “Stop whining, get a job, eat Ramen like the rest of us did in college, on a budget with 4 roommates.
“The market doesn’t care what you think something ‘should’ cost. Only communists care (they set prices remember? Then everyone starves, remember?) Are you a communist? Or are you an American adult male capable of handling his own s***?”
Accused of posting “ragebait” and branded an “elitist” and much, much worse, Crenshaw was ultimately forced into a climbdown, apologizing – but only for “triggering the comment section.”
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