Vice President JD Vance has faced online criticism after responding to a college student's question about the housing crisis with a joke about a senator's backside during a Fox News town hall ahead of the November 3 midterm elections.
At the prime-time event, student Kate White, vice president of her school's Turning Point USA chapter, asked how the Right expects young people to start families when the average price of a home in America now costs more than $415,000.
Vance deflects with joke about Jon Husted
Vance thanked White for the question and support, but then said he had been asked four or five questions, adding, "I have only been asked one question about [Republican Sen.] Jon Husted's ass — and it was by [Fox News's] Jesse Watters." Watters quipped with a smile, "It's what people are talking about!"
The exchange drew criticism on X, with users branding Vance's comment "crass" and "tone deaf." One user wrote, "He's asked the most basic question about housing affordability, and he can't even pretend to take it seriously." Another said, "This guy has negative charisma and horrible political instincts."
Trump's recurring gag about Husted
This is not the first time Husted's physique has made news. President Donald Trump has made it a recurring gag in campaign speeches, beginning when NFL coach Jon Gruden told Trump that he and Husted played college football together in the 1980s. Trump has since made comments about Husted's body in Ohio, Kentucky, and North Carolina, and Vance joined in a day later in Sharonville, quipping, "What could I possibly say about Jon Husted that Donald J. Trump has not already said?"
Vance's housing response draws scrutiny
Vance eventually addressed the housing crisis, arguing that housing costs exploded "in part because we allowed 20 million illegal aliens into our country to buy homes that ought, by right, go to American citizens." That figure is greatly exaggerated, and while immigration rates do increase demand for housing, experts say immigrants are much more likely to rent in the US, not buy, and are not the primary drivers of rising costs. Immigrant workers are also essential to the housing supply and make up crucial proportions of construction workforces that can solve shortages.
