This Video Of JD Vance's Viral Handshake Disaster Is Almost Too Embarassing To Watch
Having long since broken ties with his previous vice president, Donald Trump tapped JD Vance as his 2024 running mate, hoping the Ohio senator would appeal to younger voters and help clinch key Midwestern states come November. As Vance proudly told Fox News shortly after the announcement, "He just said, 'Look, I think we gotta go save this country. I think you're the guy who can help me in the in the best way,'" (via CNN). But as the weeks drag on, the "Hillbilly Elegy" author's repeated displays of awkwardness keep getting in the way of the campaign. Most recently, Vance gained the wrong kind of attention for a cringeworthy encounter that showed him having trouble with a simple greeting.
"First time here?"
Vance: "First time here. Yeah." 😕
— Republicans against Trump (@RpsAgainstTrump) September 2, 2024
In 2023, union members of United Auto Workers at the GM plant in Toledo went on strike. The senator put in an appearance at the picket line, as did Rep. Marcy Kaptur, (D-Ohio), the longest-serving woman in Congress. As cameras rolled, Kaptur reached out her balled-up hand to the future VP candidate for a fist bump. Vance responded with an open palm and shook her fist before quickly switching to make his own fist, but Kaptur had already withdrawn her arm, leaving Vance hanging.
He then went to shake the hand of another attendee, but the man abruptly turned and walked away. As if that weren't embarrassing enough, Kaptur got the representative to admit that it was his first time at the strike site, which probably didn't go over well with Vance's union-member constituents. "Thank you for coming," she dismissed him.
JD Vance's handshake fail didn't help his 'weird' reputation
If people thought JD Vance had reached new levels of weird by picking an embarrassing fight with a Miss Teen USA contestant in a misguided attempt to take a shot at Kamala Harris, they really winced at the viral clip of his handshake fail with Rep. Marcy Kaptur (maybe he should have tried to avoid the bump the way Vance deftly dodged a question about Donald Trump's views on abortion). X, formerly known as Twitter, lit up with jibes at the vice presidential candidate — and yes, the "weird" descriptor came up often. One commenter even suggested a new word be invented to describe Vance: "awkweird."
Another user took a swing at the Ohio senator's controversial statements about women without children. "JD Vance's charisma is as genuine as a used car salesman's smile," they argued. "His attempts to be likable fall flatter than a pancake, and yes, the old lady [Kaptur] clearly doesn't like him and probably owns a cat." One also remarked on Vance's body language: "He even tops it off with that awkward arm cross and uncomfortable retreat," sarcastically adding, "A true people person."
Another opined, "This is the product of spending way too much time in the safe zones of MAGA politics. He hasn't spent time with normal people in many years and it shows." But at least one person appreciated the clip, though not for the reasons Vance might have wanted. Wondering aloud whether anybody checked if the controversial candidate could interact with others like a normal human being prior to being picked as Trump's VP, they quipped, "Either way, thank you for this gift that keeps on giving!"