Embarrassing JD Vance Moments That Will Haunt Him Forever

Let's be frank: Politics is a popularity contest, and when it comes to Vice President JD Vance, we wonder whether he would have ended up at the cool kids' table had it not been for President Donald Trump. While the divisive politician certainly has his critics, Trump is adored by his MAGA base. And yet, Vance doesn't seem to command the same admiration. It might have something to do with the fact that he used to be a very vocal critic of Trump, until he needed his endorsement to land a Senate seat in 2021. On the other hand, there's the fact that Vance's cringe-worthy moments since taking office have surpassed even Trump's top five most awkward dancing moments — and that takes some doing. 

The former Ohio senator is a gaffe machine. The man can't seem to stop embarrassing himself on a regular basis. For instance, at a campaign event in September 2024, he accidentally referred to himself as a wife. The crowd laughed, and Vance droned on determinedly. Then there was the VP's trip to the grocery store in an attempt to stick it to former Vice President Kamala Harris. Only, the entire operation failed miserably. 

As Vance tried to convince the American people that Harris was responsible for a dozen eggs bearing the hefty price tag of $4, he was surrounded by said items clearly boasting a price of $2.99. He also casually mentioned that his three kids devour a total of 14 eggs for breakfast every day, and even if that was a joke, it wasn't a good one, because bragging about how you can afford to feed your children that many eggs when the price is supposedly $4 a carton just reeked of privilege.

Forget the brutal moments JD Vance has weathered on CNN; the vice president has been the sole creator of some of his biggest humiliations on multiple occasions. While out on the campaign trail in September 2024, Vance reminisced about the after effects of Former President John F. Kennedy's assassination. "I think in many ways, this country never healed from the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy Jr.," Vance told the crowd (via X, formerly known as Twitter). 

Indeed, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is very much alive and serving as President Donald Trump's health secretary. In fact, just moments before Vance said this, he was praising Kennedy, telling supporters, "We're very proud on our side to have the support of Bobby Kennedy Jr." It was obviously a slip of the tongue, but the internet had no mercy. "RFK Jr. is still alive. JD Vance has dementia too," one X user penned. "Facts confuse @JDVance," another quipped, while a third hilariously joked, "The ceremonial passing of the brainworm from RFK Jr. to JD Vance is complete." 

The nation was shocked when Kennedy dropped out of the presidential race in 2024 (he was running as an Independent), and endorsed Trump. When asked by NBC News' "Meet the Press" whether he was happy to accept the controversial politician's endorsement, Vance said yes, but clarified that they didn't agree on everything. Whether or not Kennedy is still alive appears to be one of those things.

Barely a month after JD Vance was officially named as Donald Trump's running mate, the former Ohio senator appeared desperate to curry favor with the American people. Trump was already beloved among his supporters but Vance still had to make his mark. So, he brought his dog to work. But many folks were skeptical about whether the prospective VP had any experience being a dog parent at all. Vance's furry friend's appearance came after polls showed that most voters think he is weird. This was likely thanks to Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Walz, who went viral for suggesting that Trump and Co. are "just weird," per AP News. And so, off to work Vance went with his German Shepherd, Atlas. The only problem was that seasoned dog parents quickly noticed that the politician was holding Atlas' leash all wrong, putting himself at serious risk of leash burn. 

"JD even holds a dog leash weird," one such netizen observed on X. Vance hardly looked like a loving dog owner in the viral clips that made the rounds either. In fact, poor Atlas was seemingly hellbent on getting as far away from him as possible, especially while boarding a plane. Atlas ran up the steps, and Vance had a hard time keeping up, having to adjust his hand on the leash as his dog outran him. Indeed, it appeared as if Atlas was walking the "Hillbilly Elegy" author, not the other way around. Experts who spoke to Jezebel confirmed that they doubted Vance spends much time with his pooch in real life. Retired professional dog walker Eli Yudin pointed out that Atlas looked "uncomfortable," noting,"It does give me a vibe of a dog that's primarily trained-slash-walked by someone else." 

If you're wondering what JD Vance is like in real life (without the pantsuit and the politics), the answer is: quite clumsy. The vice president managed to draw unwanted attention to himself when he unceremoniously dropped Ohio State's national championship trophy during a White House event in February 2026, with the entire Buckeyes' football team watching. The giant trophy turned out to be more than Vance could handle as he attempted to lift it from a nearby table. When he did finally manage to get a grip on it, the trophy nearly gave the VP a black eye as it fell off its base. 

Vance then awkwardly fumbled to pick up the fallen base and finally managed to take his place for a photo op, with some help, awkwardly holding only the top the entire time. It was as funny as it was embarrassing, and naturally, netizens had a grand old time making light of his mishap. "JD Vance sees a college football trophy and breaks it. JD Vance meets the Pope and well, you know," one X user cracked. "A metaphor of what he's doing to the country," another opined. A third user added simply, "JD Vance gets the trophy for biggest embarrassment."

Even the man himself acknowledged that the moment was utterly mortifying, during a subsequent chat with Fox News. "It's awful," the vice president said in response to being asked what it was like (via Instagram). "My friends gave me hell for it, and it's one of those moments I'll never live down." In that assessment, at least, Vance is 100% correct.

We're not exactly sure what JD Vance is good at, but suffice it to say, it's definitely not golf. The vice president weathered a hugely embarrassing ordeal while holidaying in the U.K. in August 2025, as he pranced around the green at President Donald Trump's Turnberry golf course. Unlike his boss, who has mastered the sport (according to himself, anyway), albeit with some regular, and well-documented, cheating, Vance didn't manage to get the ball in the hole once. 

The Daily Mail reported at the time that the vice president grew increasingly frustrated as he tried and failed to make any headway. Social media wasted no time lambasting Vance's poor golfing skills. "So....basically he sucks at everything, including golf," one such X user penned. "Does this guy ever work??!!" another implored, in reference to him taking yet another holiday. Others noted that, as bad as Vance was at the sport, at least he played an honest game.

While JD Vance is pretty adept at humiliating himself, he's not that good at embarrassing others. The vice president took a shot at belittling New York Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez during President Donald Trump's first Board of Peace meeting, and it backfired — badly. Vance attempted to make a joke at the congresswoman's expense by referring to her slip-up at the Munich Security Conference in February 2026. Ocasio-Cortez faltered slightly when asked a question about foreign policy and placed Venezuela "below the equator," per The Hill. It was an embarrassing flub, but Vance's attempt to make it even more so only served to humiliate himself.

As the former Ohio senator stepped up to speak, he quipped, "I knew exactly what I wanted to say, but then after the president said that I was so smart, and that I didn't want to repeat our congresswoman who froze for 20 seconds over in Munich — now, I'm tempted, sir, just to freeze for 20 seconds and just stare at the cameras and maybe they'll say nice things about me like they do about Congresswoman Cortez." There was a deafening silence as Vance held for laughs. Unfortunately, his bad joke went viral, and AOC herself took a moment to respond to it. "The only thing longer than my pause to think was their silence to his joke," the congresswoman penned on X.

Netizens weighed in with their own two cents. "Never knew it was possible to be that uncharismatic and embarrassing," one wrote. "He has the personality of a bowl of curdled milk," added another, while a third quipped, "Vance has the charisma of a fart in church."