Vice President JD Vance introduced a new technique to select reporters to ask questions at the White House press briefing on Wednesday.
After addressing the government shutdown and disputes with Democrat senators in a speech, Vance opened up the floor to members to the media.
When it came time to pick who should go first, Vance appeared somewhat overwhelmed by the packed room of reporters.
In the heat of the chaos, Vance turned to Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt for some guidance.
“Karoline, I have no idea how you’re making these selections – I barely recognize any of the names here. Are you just picking whoever dresses the best?”
‘I really like your shirt. Go ahead,’ he said while pointing to a reporter.
The quip injected a bit of humor into an otherwise serious press briefing, which followed a government shutdown anticipated to leave countless federal workers unpaid, lead to layoffs, and jeopardize public services.
Vance and Leavitt’s opening statements assigned blame to Democrat lawmakers who refused to pass a stopgap funding plan.
‘President Trump and the Republicans will not force American taxpayers to pay for free healthcare for illegal aliens,’ Leavitt said.
Vance supported her comments, stating: “Instead, what [democrats] have done is shut down the government because we refuse to allocate billions in healthcare funding for illegal immigrants.”
The VP particularly blamed the shutdown on the progressive, ‘Chuck Schumer/AOC wing’ of the Democrat party.
Vice President JD Vance appeared flustered while deciding which journalist to call on first after discussing the government shutdown during the press briefing at the White House in Washington.
Attempts to swiftly resolve the US government shutdown faced setbacks on Wednesday when senators failed to agree on a plan that could end the bitter funding dispute between Trump and Congress democrats.
The Democrats who opposed the funding bill argued their refusal was due to a desire for an extension of tax credits that reduce health insurance costs for millions of Americans, which are due to expire.
They also want a reversal of cuts to Medicaid, and they oppose spending cuts to government health agencies.
The Senate voted Wednesday afternoon to again block a temporary funding bill which would have kept the government open until November 21.
Later during the conference, a reporter asked the Vice President about a deepfake AI video posted by Trump which in which Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer was edited to say, ‘nobody likes Democrats anymore. We have no voters left because of all of our woke trans bulls**t.’
In the phony video, Schumer was flanked by House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, who had a Sombrero and large handlebar mustache superimposed onto his face. Mariachi music played in the background.
Critics have called the video racist and questioned whether posting a video like that aligns with the Trump administration’s claims that they want to have good-faith negotiations over government funding.
Vance warned on Wednesday that a prolonged federal government shutdown will lead to layoffs, blaming the Democrats for the current stalemate
Jeffries himself condemned the video as ‘disgusting’ during an interview with MSNBC. Afterwards, Trump posted another video of Jeffries with a Sombrero and Mustache superimposed.
Vance dismissed criticisms of the video, saying: ‘I think it’s funny. The president’s joking and we’re having a good time.
‘You can negotiate in good faith while also poking a little bit of fun at some of the absurdities of the Democrats’ positions, and even, you know, poking some fun at the absurdity of the Democrats themselves.’
Negotiations over the shutdown continue to be underway, and the Senate is scheduled to vote on government funding again on Friday.
