JD Vance Takes A Not-So-Subtle Jab At Trump After Being Pushed Aside For Elon Musk

As President-elect Donald Trump continues to fill out his cabinet, Vice President-elect JD Vance is seemingly lashing out after being somewhat pushed aside by Trump. Vance took a page from Trump's book by insulting Grace Chong as an "imbecile" on X, formerly Twitter. Chong is the CFO and COO for Steve Bannon's Pro-Trump "WarRoom" podcast and said in a since-deleted tweet, "You guys better show up and do your one fricken job!!" (via The Independent) in reference to the Senate voting on President Joe Biden's judicial nominees. She specifically called out Marco Rubio and JD Vance in the post.

Trump echoed Chong's sentiments on Truth Social, the X clone owned by Trump Media & Technology Group, which is primarily owned by Trump. "The Democrats are trying to stack the Courts with Radical Left Judges on their way out the door," he wrote. "Republican Senators need to Show Up and Hold the Line — No more Judges confirmed before Inauguration Day!"

Vance, who is currently a Republican senator, did not take kindly to Chong's words. He ranted at her on X, calling Chong "a mouth breathing imbecile who attacks those of us in the fight rather than make herself useful" (via The Independent). He also seemed to clap back at Trump, writing: "I tend to think it's more important to get an FBI director who will dismantle the deep state than it is for Republicans to lose a vote 49-46 rather than 49-45. But that's just me." Vance has been absent from recent Senate votes as he has been vetting potential FBI director candidates with Trump. His tweet has since been deleted. 

Donald Trump's bond with Elon Musk has everyone comparing JD Vance to Melania Trump, who was notably missing for much of Trump's campaign — there are some telling signs that Melania won't return to the White House with her husband. Vice President-elect JD Vance has been similarly quiet during the weeks since the election as Elon Musk has wormed his way to Trump's side. Musk recently joined Trump on his private plane to share a meal alongside Donald Trump Jr., House Speaker Mike Johnson, and Secretary of Health nominee Robert F. Kennedy Jr. "Make America Healthy Again starts TOMORROW," Don Jr. captioned the photo on X. Not included? JD Vance.

Musk, who is ineligible to run for the presidency due to being born in South Africa, has "sandwiched himself between JD Vance and the president – that's the relationship that is going to play out here in Washington," former RNC chairman Michael Steele said on MSNBC (via the New York Times). Musk has been hanging around Mar-a-Lago a lot after Trump won the election, being called the "guest who wouldn't leave" (via the Daily Beast), and recently joined Trump's call to Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky, which Vance did not participate in. Most notable is Musk's appointment to lead Trump's planned Department Of Government Efficiency alongside Vivek Ramaswamy, with which Trump aims to "dismantle Government Bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures and restructure Federal Agencies" (via Forbes).