JD Vance Accidentally Compared Trump's Taste In Oval Office Decor To A Toddler's

JD Vance may or may not secretly wish to be an unelected president. At least, that's what his candor in interviews and online suggest. Either the former Ohio senator is in dire need of some media training, or he's simply returning President Donald Trump's shadiest digs at Vance in full. Vance's comments on Trump's health have everyone suspicious (the VP doth protest too much), and during the very USA Today interview that left pundits even more concerned about the president's wellbeing, Vance managed to also accidentally take a dig at his boss' decision to cover the Oval Office in gold. 

When asked what he thought of Trump's gaudy decor, the politician didn't really provide a straightforward answer. "The president obviously has his very distinctive style," Vance replied. "What I really like about the Oval Office is that it's brighter." We barely had time to wonder whether his use of the word "distinctive" was a hint that he can't stand the office's new look when the "Hillbilly Elegy" author doled out what appeared to be another thinly-veiled insult: "Our five-year-old, his favorite color is gold. And whenever he walks into the Oval Office, he's just blown away by it because it does have this bright, lively feel." 

Er, comparing your boss' taste to a child's isn't exactly the most supportive move, Mr. Vice President. Trump's penchant for covering everything he owns in gold is well established, but the president seems to forget that the Oval Office isn't actually his property. Musician Jack White publicly decried it on Instagram as "a vulgar, gold leafed and gaudy, professional wrestler's dressing room." Unnamed experts who spoke to the Washington Post agreed, with one opining, "It looks so garish and overblown."

While JD Vance had to take a side in the Musk V. Trump divorce (he chose Donald Trump, unsurprisingly), the vice president hasn't exactly been helpful when it comes to getting the president out of one of the stickiest situations of his second term — the Epstein files. While Trump has insisted that he's being transparent about the elusive files, the divisive politician eventually resorted to calling it a hoax engineered by the Democrats. Vance has seemingly supported Trump's narrative, but he's had a slip of the tongue on a few occasions that hinted he might not be fully on board with keeping the files under wraps.

While appearing on Fox News, Vance said, "I laugh at the Democrats, who are now all of a sudden so interested in the Epstein files," (via MSNBC). The VP also argued that Former President Joe Biden could have released said files (which Trump claims don't even exist), and hinted that Dems had the most to fear from their contents. The irony is that Republican supporters have been among the most adamant about releasing the so-called Epstein list. Additionally, if said files can bury their opponents, that's all the more reason for the Trump administration to make them public.

That was hardly the only time Vance made questionable comments about his relationship with Epstein either. After the Wall Street Journal published a bombshell article revealing Trump had written Jeffrey Epstein a raunchy birthday card that hinted he might have had knowledge of the disgraced businessman's illicit activities, Vance took to X, formerly known as Twitter, to defend him. "This story is complete and utter bullsh*t," he penned, adding, "Where is this letter?" Naturally, this is not a question the president wants people asking.