Did White House accidentally call JD Vance 'dumb a**' after speech gaffe?
A White House post calling a journalist a "dumb a**" sparked online mockery after footage suggested JD Vance's own handling of a poster -- not an altered video -- had obscured the image, leading critics to say the administration had inadvertently insulted the vice president.
Did the White House inadvertently end up calling JD Vance a "dumb a**" while trying to defend the US Vice President's own on-stage gaffe? The controversy erupted after Vance's speech in Milwaukee on Wednesday, where he sought to highlight the Trump administration's crackdown on benefit fraud, triggered an online spat between the White House's Rapid Response 47 account and US journalist over a poster that appeared obscured by the venue's lighting.
During the speech, Vance unveiled a large poster featuring what appeared to be a photograph of Markita Barnes, a Wisconsin woman convicted in March on 10 counts of healthcare fraud and money laundering involving more than $2 million.
However, once the poster was displayed, the venue's lighting appeared to wash out the image. Vance continued referring to the person in the photograph, seemingly unaware that the audience could not clearly see it.
“Now, I want to be clear that the woman in the back did nothing wrong,” Vance said, referring to what he presented as a bystander in the photograph. He then added: “But look at this woman in the front with the smug look and the Louis Vuitton bag. A woman who quite literally stole from young mothers who needed prenatal care.”
Acyn Torabi, a senior digital editor at MeidasTouch known for posting political clips on X, shared a video of the moment with the caption: “Vance pointing to a picture obscured by light: Look at this woman.”
The White House Rapid Response 47 account responded quickly. The account, which says in its bio that it was launched by the Trump administration to combat and hold “the Fake News accountable,” re-posted Torabi’s clip and shared a clearer image of Barnes.
“Your dumb a** is shielding a criminal who stole $2.4 million in taxpayer-funded benefits meant to help at-risk pregnant women and women with young children,” the Rapid Response 47 account wrote, insinuating that it was Torabi who had altered the image. “She’s spending the next decade in federal prison thanks to this Administration’s relentless work to end the fraud.”
MeidasTouch pushed back at the suggestion that Torabi had altered the clip to make the photograph unclear. “Um... Do they think @Acyn blurred their faces? It was Vance who obscured her by placing the board the way he did. The White House essentially just called Vance a ‘dumb ass,’” the outlet wrote on X. Getty also published a photograph from the event that showed the same glare on the poster.
The White House’s own YouTube video of the speech also appeared to support MeidasTouch and Torabi’s account.
In the footage, the photograph is briefly visible when Vance first turns the poster around. However, once he places it on an easel, the stage lights create a glare across the image, leaving it obscured for the remainder of his remarks.
The screenshot shared by Rapid Response 47 on X appears to have been taken from that brief moment before the glare covered the picture. Although the image posted by the White House appeared to have been sourced from Fox News' coverage of the event, an equally clear frame could also be captured from the White House's official footage.
Did the White House inadvertently end up calling JD Vance a "dumb a**" while trying to defend the US Vice President's own on-stage gaffe? The controversy erupted after Vance's speech in Milwaukee on Wednesday, where he sought to highlight the Trump administration's crackdown on benefit fraud, triggered an online spat between the White House's Rapid Response 47 account and US journalist over a poster that appeared obscured by the venue's lighting.
During the speech, Vance unveiled a large poster featuring what appeared to be a photograph of Markita Barnes, a Wisconsin woman convicted in March on 10 counts of healthcare fraud and money laundering involving more than $2 million.
However, once the poster was displayed, the venue's lighting appeared to wash out the image. Vance continued referring to the person in the photograph, seemingly unaware that the audience could not clearly see it.
“Now, I want to be clear that the woman in the back did nothing wrong,” Vance said, referring to what he presented as a bystander in the photograph. He then added: “But look at this woman in the front with the smug look and the Louis Vuitton bag. A woman who quite literally stole from young mothers who needed prenatal care.”
Acyn Torabi, a senior digital editor at MeidasTouch known for posting political clips on X, shared a video of the moment with the caption: “Vance pointing to a picture obscured by light: Look at this woman.”
The White House Rapid Response 47 account responded quickly. The account, which says in its bio that it was launched by the Trump administration to combat and hold “the Fake News accountable,” re-posted Torabi’s clip and shared a clearer image of Barnes.
“Your dumb a** is shielding a criminal who stole $2.4 million in taxpayer-funded benefits meant to help at-risk pregnant women and women with young children,” the Rapid Response 47 account wrote, insinuating that it was Torabi who had altered the image. “She’s spending the next decade in federal prison thanks to this Administration’s relentless work to end the fraud.”
MeidasTouch pushed back at the suggestion that Torabi had altered the clip to make the photograph unclear. “Um... Do they think @Acyn blurred their faces? It was Vance who obscured her by placing the board the way he did. The White House essentially just called Vance a ‘dumb ass,’” the outlet wrote on X. Getty also published a photograph from the event that showed the same glare on the poster.
The White House’s own YouTube video of the speech also appeared to support MeidasTouch and Torabi’s account.
In the footage, the photograph is briefly visible when Vance first turns the poster around. However, once he places it on an easel, the stage lights create a glare across the image, leaving it obscured for the remainder of his remarks.
The screenshot shared by Rapid Response 47 on X appears to have been taken from that brief moment before the glare covered the picture. Although the image posted by the White House appeared to have been sourced from Fox News' coverage of the event, an equally clear frame could also be captured from the White House's official footage.
