JD Vance criticises ‘injection of politics’ into military in Marine Corps speech which does just that

US vice president JD Vance has once again undermined himself within the same speech, this time attacking the injection of politics into the US military in an address to Marine Corps, which… well… took aim at Democrats and therefore injected politics into the armed forces.

The former Ohio senator spoke to troops at Camp Pendleton in California on Saturday, on the same day that millions across the country demonstrated against the Trump administration at ‘No Kings’ protests – a move which saw California governor Gavin Newsom accuse the White House of leaning on the military for an “absurd show of force”.

Vance said: “I bring greetings today, from our commander-in-chief Donald J. Trump, and he wanted me to tell you, every single one of you, that he’s proud of you, that he loves you, and that despite the Schumer shutdown, he is going to do everything he can to make sure you get paid exactly as you deserve.

“Now I know we’re here to talk about the Marine Corps, but I’ve got to get just a little bit political, because congressional Democrats seem to want to keep the government shutdown even though it would mean a lot of you would not get your paycheck.”

The VP got “just a little bit political”, and then, just minutes later, proceeded to criticise the politicisation of the US military.

He went on to add: “When officials try to shift focus to mandating diversity quotas, when they try to inject partisan politics into the American armed forces, they impede the Marine Corps’ ability to do its best work, and that’s why the secretary of war [Pete Hegseth] and the president have stood so firmly against that crap.”

The contradiction has since been pointed out by social media users:

The Tennessee Holler wrote that “self-awareness has never been a strength” of Vance’s:

“Vance’s entire speech has been nothing but injecting partisan politics into the armed forces,” commented another:

And MeidasTouch editor-in-chief Ron Filipkowski tweeted: “He literally just finished trashing Schumer and Democrats before going to this line”:

It’s not the first time Vance has embarrassed himself within minutes, as in the run-up to last year’s presidential election, the then Republican candidate attempted to take a swipe at Kamala Harris’ use of a teleprompter, only to trip over his words moments later.

Oh dear…

Why not read…

• Trump’s responds to 'No Kings' protests with 'disgusting' AI video
• Trump undermines himself three times in one press conference

Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter

How to join the indy100's free WhatsApp channel

Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.