Vice President JD Vance appeared to not want to be reminded of his past job.
During a live interview hosted by conservative think tank American Compass, its founder and chief economist Oren Cass welcomed President Donald Trump’s No. 2 to the event on Tuesday, saying he was “thrilled” to have the opportunity to talk with him before pivoting to how he was an “intellectual first” before entering politics.
“Some people don’t like the word intellectual, but I mean it in the good sense of the term,” Cass said, pointing to Vance’s time writing for National Review, compared to to “politicians out there who are — they’ve just been politicians.”
“You were at the bar late at night arguing about and helping shape these ideas that you are now…” he continued, before Vance interrupted.
“I come here for free, and you insult me, and you call me an intellectual, remind me that I wrote for National Review,” Vance said.
“What an a--hole this guy is,” he said to applause from the audience.
Cass appeared to hesitantly respond: “That’s fair. I would admit that I, too, wrote for National Review.”
Vance joined the conversation with Cass, who marked the group’s fifth anniversary as the home of conservative economic populism in Washington, D.C., during a time when the GOP has been pushing for un-populist positions, particularly in Trump’s “big, beautiful bill,” according to Politico.
The multitrillion-dollar spending package includes reduced funding for Medicaid and food assistance programs like Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), and cuts back taxes for higher income families and corporations. The bill has since been met with resistance from populist-aligned lawmakers, such as Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), who has decried the cuts to health care programs.
Trump has criticized Republican colleagues who have spoken out against different parts of the bill — including Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), who was called a “grandstander” and threatened to be voted out of office, and Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), who was blasted twice on Truth Social on Tuesday.
“Rand Paul has very little understanding of the BBB, especially the tremendous GROWTH that is coming. He loves voting ‘NO’ on everything, he thinks it’s good politics, but it’s not. The BBB is a big WINNER!!!” Trump wrote in his first post.
In a separate post, Trump wrote that Rand opposes “everything,” and fails to present any “practical or constructive ideas.”
“His ideas are actually crazy (losers!). The people of Kentucky can’t stand him. This is a BIG GROWTH BILL!” he posted.