Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK via IMAGN images
Vice President J.D. Vance tried to joke about former President Joe Biden in front of soldiers at the Naval Air Station Oceana in Virginia Beach on July 1. It didn’t go well for Vance—literally no one laughed.
During his speech, Vance told the troops he was having a mental debate about whether to joke about Biden falling up and down the stairs of Air Force One, the plane used to fly the president and administration members safely around the country. His partisan joke was met with awkward silence from the crowd of service members.
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“You know what I’m thinking as I’m coming down the steps is, ‘Don’t fall and bust your a** in front of you and all these cameras because they would never let me live that one down,’” Vance said.
“You know, the previous president—I’m trying to be nonpartisan. You ever see these old cartoons where you got the angel on the shoulder and the devil on the shoulder? Well, because I’m speaking to all of you … I’ve got the angel on my shoulder saying, ‘JD, don’t be partisan. We’re gonna make this nonpartisan.’ And then I’ve got the devil on my shoulder who wants to talk about every time that Joe Biden fell up or down the stairs, and the media didn’t care about that,” Vance said.
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No one laughed as he nervously continued his speech.
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