JD Vance Feels 'Awful' About Awkward Donut Shop Visit
Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance is speaking out about his recent visit to a donut shop in Valdosta, Georgia.
And guess what? He’s not happy about it either.
Last week, the Ohio senator stopped by Holt’s Sweet Shop to do one of those politician-greets-the-people meetings that are supposed to show a candidate in a natural everyday setting.
But the visit proved awkward — cringey even — because an employee behind the counter either didn’t know she was speaking to a person who could one day be first in line to the presidency or just didn’t care.
One thing she did care about, however, was not being filmed while Vance struggled over what donuts to buy, ultimately telling the woman to pick “whatever makes sense.”
Here’s a clip to refresh your memory.
JD Vance had a very awkward visit to a donut shop in Georgia earlier. Trust us, it’s worse than you even think. pic.twitter.com/Fnohh0bKUf
— MeidasTouch (@MeidasTouch) August 22, 2024
The exchange went viral for all the wrong reasons, and Vance admitted to NBC News on Tuesday that he’s not happy with how things went ― mostly because of how it affected the employee who didn’t want to be on camera in the first place.
“I just felt terrible for that woman,” Vance said. “We walked in, and there’s 20 Secret Service agents, and there’s 15 cameras, and she clearly had not been properly warned, and she was terrified, right? I just felt awful for her.”
This hasn’t been Vance’s only awkward encounter with average Americans.
Last week, he tried joking with a Wisconsin deli owner by asking him if he had any food he didn’t really like before quipping, “We’ll take some and feed it to the journalists on the plane.”
Despite inducing social media cringe, Vance told NBC News that he actually enjoys meeting people and that his interactions with them are real.
“We don’t [have] to have these scripted events — I don’t want to go and do three takes of buying Doritos at a Sheetz,” he said, referring to a recent stop Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris made with running mate Tim Walz at the convenience store chain.
“I like to get out there and talk to people,” Vance added, but emphasized that he wants his staff to set up meetings better.
“We want to make sure we’re doing it, but definitely make sure that people are at least OK with being on camera, or we’re going to walk in and you’re going to have a person who has, practically, a panic attack because she’s got 15 cameras in her face,” he said.