Vice President JD Vance cranked the cringe dial up to eleven with his latest attempt at a joke at the Ohio Republican Party dinner in Lima, Ohio, on Tuesday.
Vance, while delivering the event’s keynote speech, was talking about how it’s essential to take the rough with the smooth in politics when he said:
“I know it’s not always easy to be a political candidate, trust me. In Washington, DC, they have this thing, I think it means, ‘We’re No.1 in Washington, DC.’”
Vance flipped his middle finger and kept it in place as he continued:
“But all the pink-haired people throw up this sign and I think, you that means, ‘We’re no.1,’ right?”
He lowered his finger and then added: “I choose to take that as that symbol in Washington.”
The line drew some laughter from the audience.
But on social media, critics mocked the vice president’s so-called gag and joked about him trying to outdo President Donald Trump, who’d earlier dropped an F-bomb while ranting about Israel and Iran breaking a ceasefire.