A trio of Trump officials, including Vice President JD Vance, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, and Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, faced heckling on Wednesday at Union Station in Washington, D.C., while attempting to serve hamburgers to National Guard members.
Vance’s unplanned visit to the Amtrak hub’s Shake Shack quickly drew in protesters advocating for ‘free D.C.’ and ‘free Palestine.’
A man spotted the officials and shouted, ‘f*** you Pete, f***ing Nazi,’ while another followed suit by hollering, ‘get the f*** out of my city,’ as shown in videos from the incident.
Another protester targeted Vance, yelling, ‘Oh look, it’s couch f***er. You gonna f*** a couch buddy? Go f*** a couch, go back to Ohio little p**** boy.’
President Donald Trump had announced on August 11 his decision to deploy the National Guard to the capital and to federalize the District’s police, citing concerns over the city’s rising crime rate.
National Guard members have been stationed around Union Station, which is primarily known for its food court rather than being a center of violence. In the ongoing operation throughout the city, there have been over 550 arrests since the crackdown began.
‘We wanted to bring you guys some burgers. We appreciate everything you’ve been doing,’ Vance told the troops. ‘You guys bust your ass all day and we give you a hamburger. Not a fair trade, but we’re grateful for everything you guys do.’
As Vance, Hegseth and Miller mingled with the military members, the protesting was audible.
‘So we’re going to ignore these stupid white hippies that all need to go home and take a nap because they’re all over 90 years old,’ huffed Miller as the trio tried to conduct a Q&A with journalists on the scene.
Hecklers could be heard throughout White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller (left), Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth (center) and Vice President J.D. Vance’s (right) unscheduled trip to Union Station Wednesday to meet with National Guard troops
A man holds a ‘Free D.C.’ sign outside of where Vice President J.D. Vance, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller were meeting with National Guard troops at Union Station’s Shake Shack
The vice president told reporters that D.C. has seen a dip in crime ‘because these guys are busting their ass.’
‘You can actually bring law and order to communities you’ve just gotta have the political willpower to do it,’ Vance said. ‘And I think you hear these guys outside here screaming at us.’
‘Of course these are a bunch of crazy protesters, but I’ll tell you, a couple of years ago when I brought my kids here, they were being screamed at by violent vagrants and it was scaring the hell out of my kids,’ the VP continued.
‘And one of the things that we’ve done already in Union Station in just nine days is we’ve made it a place where people can walk around safely, they can bring their kids again, they can see this beautiful monument, the architecture, they can have a meal with their friends and loved ones,’ Vance added. ‘Because we’ve brought some law and order back to Washington, D.C.’
Vance was asked why the troops were deployed to areas frequented by tourists instead of neighborhoods in D.C. that see the highest instances of violent crime.
‘Well, if you’ve ever been to Union Station in the last few years with your family you know the crime is actually extremely high right here in Union Station,’ Vance responded.
‘You have vagrants, you have drug addicts, you have the chronically homeless, you have the mentally ill who harass, who threaten violence, who attack families and they’ve done it for far too long,’ he added.
Vance expressed disbelief that residents of Washington, D.C. were against the Guard’s deployment and the federal takeover of D.C.’s Metropolitan Police Department.
Vice President J.D. Vance (center) and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth (right) are captured walking through the main hall of Union Station after meeting with troops at the train station’s Shake Shack
Vice President J.D. Vance eats a burger with members of the National Guard who were deployed by President Donald Trump to deal with crime in Washington, D.C. Vance attracted protesters Wednesday when he showed up to the historic train station
Vice President J.D. Vance can be seen talking into Union Station on Wednesday, making an unscheduled stop at the train station to visit the Shake Shack and feed members of the National Guard hamburgers. The visit attracted a number of ‘Free D.C.’ protesters
‘I’m highly skeptical that a majority of D.C. residents don’t want their city to have better public safety and more reasonable safety standards within Washington, D.C.,’ Vance replied. ‘I don’t know what poll you’re talking about. Maybe the same poll that said Kamala Harris would win the popular vote by 10 points.’
A Washington Post-Schar School poll released earlier Wednesday found that 69 percent of D.C. residents ‘strongly oppose’ Trump federalizing the police force and bringing in National Guard troops. Another 10 percent somewhat opposed the move.
Just 9 percent of Washingtonians strongly supported Trump’s order, with another 8 percent who said they somewhat supported it.
‘We hear these people outside screaming “Free D.C.” Let’s free D.C. from lawlessness, let’s free Washington, D.C. from one of the highest murder rates in the entire world. Let’s free Washington, D.C., so young families can walk around and feel safe and secure. That’s what we’re trying to free D.C. from,’ Vance also said.
‘And as Stephen said,’ Vance continued, referencing Miller. ‘It’s kind of bizarre that we have a bunch of old, primarily white people who are out there protesting the policies that keep people safe when they’ve never felt danger in their entire lives.’
