Donald Trump has confounded people yet again after appearing to insult his own vice president in a media interview.
Trump is known for his unorthodox and unfiltered approach to interviews, but most of the time his vitriol is directed squarely towards his political opponents.
But a clip has surfaced on social media where the president appears to include his own vice president, JD Vance, in an attack directed at Minnesota Governor and former vice presidential candidate Tim Walz.
In the video speaking to reporters last week on 2 December, the president spoke about the debates during the 2024 presidential campaign.
Asking about Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, who was the vice presidential running mate for Democratic candidate Kamala Harris, Trump was quick to slam Walz as ‘incompetent’.
But while Trump appeared to criticize his own vice president in the convoluted answer, things were not quite as they seem in the video.
Donald Trump is known for his unfiltered approach to media questions (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
The president’s remarks appeared to not only describe Walz as ‘incompetent’, but the way Trump spoke seemed to lump Vance into that description as well, despite Vance being in the same room as him.
It started when a reporter asked the president if Walz ‘should resign over the fraud scandal in his state’.
Trump replied: “Look, I think the man’s a grossly incompetent man. I thought from the day I watched J.D. destroy him in a debate. I was saying ‘Who is more incompetent? That man or my man?’
“I had a man and he had a man.”
Seemingly confirming his description of Vance as ‘incompetent’, Trump added: “They were both incompetent and uh… I had a man and a woman, I thought she was very incompetent too, but now she’s leading the field.
Vance was in the room when Trump made the remarks (Yuri Gripas/CNP/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
“And I think she’s leading the field for the nomination… Anyway look… That’s up to them. That’s up to the Democrats.”
People were confused by the speech, with one asking: “Why is he cooking JD Vance?”
Meanwhile, another replied: “JD catching strays is wild.”
But while the presidential word salad leaves a lot of room for interpretation, he actually wasn’t referring to Vance when he said ‘my man’.
Reported by fact-checking website Snopes, which took a deep dive into the incident, the White House claimed that Trump was actually referring to his debate opponent and former POTUS, Joe Biden.
This was supported by the fact that Trump went on to say ‘I had a man and a woman’, possibly referring to how Harris took over as Democratic nominee after Biden’s withdrawal, or Trump’s successful campaign against Hilary Clinton in 2016.
