JD Vance Wastes No Time Giving Kristi Noem The Middle Finger After Trump Gave Her The Boot

Earlier this month, Donald Trump officially kicked Kristi Noem to the curb and wasted no time before announcing her Secretary of DHS replacement, the already scandalous Markwayne Mullin. Time and time again, we've all watched JD Vance take slimy U-turns on his opinions to align with Trump. So, it's no surprise that the vice president is backing Trump's choice to fire Noem. Even so, he really seemed to go out of his way to make sure that everyone knows if Trump has a problem with Noem, then so does he.

wow — JD Vance tosses Kristi Noem under the bus

"We recognized, frankly, that we needed the new leadership to hasten the delivery of resources to the people of North Carolina ... we think it's useful to have somebody come in and focus on some of this disaster relief and... pic.twitter.com/O9XjHxSOJb

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) March 13, 2026

On March 13, Vance headed to Rocky Mount, North Carolina for a speech in apparent hopes of winning over the district ahead of midterm elections. When Vance was asked about federal funding for disaster relief in the state, he was sure to adjust the focus to Noem's firing. And, he was clear about why he thinks it was a good choice. "We recognized, frankly, that we needed the new leadership to hasten the delivery of resources to the people of North Carolina," he said (via X), later adding, "we think it's useful to have somebody come in and focus on some of this disaster relief and recovery stuff."

It seemed like as soon as JD Vance got the opportunity to pin the blame on Kristi Noem for anything during his speech, he was quick to take it. He also seemed eager to seize this opportunity to attempt to change a narrative that has been playing out about Noem's firing. In the midst of speaking about the administration's eagerness to get aid to North Carolina, he noted, "a lot of people in the media have said that ... the reason why we made a change at DHS is because the Trump administration is backing off of its illegal immigration enforcement policy. That couldn't be further from the truth," he explained. Vance went on to throw Noem a bone, saying that she was sure to succeed in her new role as "Special Envoy for the Shield of the Americas" (via TIME). Yet, he stressed that a desire for more focus on disaster relief was a major reason behind Noem getting replaced.

Vance was given the opportunity to talk about disaster relief — an area in which, according to him, Noem apparently dropped the ball. Even so, it seemed a bit tangential to start addressing the gossip surrounding Noem's firing. And, this indicates that he set out to find an opportunity during this speech to throw Noem under the bus and change the narrative — whether it came up organically or not.