United States’ Vice President JD Vance had a lot to say on Tuesday. Jeffrey Epstein despised Donald Trump. The Pope needs to watch his words. And if you hold a US passport, you had better start thinking like an American.
Vance: Epstein and Trump Despised Each Other
US Vice President JD Vance said on Tuesday that Jeffrey Epstein and Donald Trump shared a mutual hatred, pushing back firmly against the notion that the president had any meaningful connection to the disgraced financier.
Speaking to students at the University of Georgia, Vance described Epstein as “a scumbag” and acknowledged that the convicted sex offender had deep ties to powerful figures across the intelligence community and political circles. But he drew a sharp line between Trump and those connections.
“What you see in those emails is that Jeffrey Epstein hated Donald Trump and Donald Trump hated Jeffrey Epstein,” Vance said. “In fact, one of the emails is about Donald Trump ‘narcing’ on Jeffrey Epstein to the local sheriff saying this guy is a scumbag, you should go pick him up.”
Vance said Trump’s repeated insistence that the Epstein connection was a hoax had been widely misread.
“When the President says ‘This is a hoax’, he is not saying that it is a hoax that Epstein was a scumbag, he is not saying that it is a hoax that Epstein was connected to powerful people, he is saying this Democratic idea that he is somehow Epstein’s best friend — that is a hoax.”
The vice president also offered an unusual character assessment, suggesting that being despised by the worst people was itself a mark of integrity.
“One of the best signs for whether you are a good person or not, for whether you are a decent human being, is if the worst people in the world hate your guts. The fact that Jeffrey Epstein hates Donald Trump is a pretty good thing for Donald J Trump.”
Vance added that he personally wanted to see the Epstein files investigated thoroughly and recalled reading an email that reminded him of the Pizzagate conspiracy theory.
“My reaction to that was we should absolutely investigate that person,” he said. “When you see evidence of sexual assault, sexual misconduct, regardless of whether you are powerful or not — in fact you should probably investigate it more if you are a powerful person.”
Vance Tells Pope Leo to Be “Careful” on Iran War
In a separate and equally pointed moment, Vance, a devout Catholic who converted to the faith, pushed back against Pope Leo XIV’s criticism of the war on Iran, saying the pontiff’s remarks were not grounded in theological truth.
The pope had posted on social media last week that God does not bless any conflict, writing that “Anyone who is a disciple of Christ, the Prince of Peace, is never on the side of those who once wielded the sword and today drop bombs.”
Vance said he admired the pope and had no objection to him weighing in on world affairs, but took direct issue with the theological position on the Middle East conflict.
“How can you say that God is never on the side of those who wield the sword?” Vance said, asking whether the pope’s logic would have applied to American troops who liberated France from Nazi Germany and freed prisoners from concentration camps during the Second World War.
“In the same way that it’s important for the vice president of the United States to be careful when I talk about matters of public policy, I think it’s very, very important for the pope to be careful when he talks about matters of theology,” Vance said. “You’ve got to make sure it’s anchored in the truth.”
The remarks put Vance in a delicate position — as one of the most prominent Catholics in American public life, and one who is currently writing a book about his faith. They also follow Trump’s own attack on the pope, in which the president called the US-born pontiff “weak on crime.” Trump separately posted and then deleted an image depicting himself as a Christ-like figure on social media.
Vance to Immigrants: Think of Yourself as American First
Rounding out a busy appearance, Vance also addressed the question of immigrant identity or H1-B visa holders living in US, telling naturalised citizens that their primary loyalty must be to the United States, and not to the country of their birth.
Vance, who is married to the daughter of Indian immigrants, acknowledged the significant contributions made by immigrant communities to American life. But he was clear about what citizenship demands.
“When you become an American citizen, whether your family is nine generations of lineage in the United States or whether your family has zero generations of lineage in the United States, one of the responsibilities that we must expect of citizens… is that you have to think about the best interest of the country, and not the country you came from beforehand and not of any sort of any group that you came from,” Vance said, responding to a question from a student of Indian origin who raised concerns about fraud in the H-1B visa system and delays in obtaining Green Cards.
“You’ve got to think of yourself as an American. The system only works if everybody thinks of themselves as an American,” he added.
