Jimmy Kimmel, Stephen Colbert Take Aim at J.D. Vance’s ‘Rough Week’

Late-night hosts mocked J.D. Vance for having a “rough week” while being forced to support Donald Trump. Yesterday, Vance spoke at a Turning Point USA conference, where he attempted to defend Trump’s criticism of Pope Leo XIV and tried to dismiss Trump’s friendship with Jeffrey Epstein.

Jimmy Kimmel noted that according to polling, Vance is the “least-popular vice president in more than two decades.” He quipped, “Weirdly, Americans don’t seem to be responding to J.D.’s infectious charisma. Maybe it’s time for a new eyeliner.”

The host played a clip of Vance speaking at the sparsely-attended Turning Point USA event. “J.D. Vance may be deeply unpopular, but you wouldn’t know it from the sitting-room-only crowd in Athens, Georgia, yesterday,” Kimmel noted. “There were more people in the theater to see the Melania documentary than J.D. Vance.”

Kimmel added, “J.D. Vance has had a rough week. He failed to make a deal to end the war in Iran. He had to defend Trump bashing the pope and the AI-Jesus stuff. And now he’s made it his job to try to pretend his boss wasn’t a close friend of the world’s most notorious pedophile.”

At the Turning Point USA conference, Vance explained that Trump wasn’t actually friends with Epstein. “Oh, now it’s clear,” Kimmel said after playing a clip of Vance’s speech. “They weren’t best friends. They were just extremely horny acquaintances together. By the way, do you think Trump and J.D. Vance have ever had a conversation about this where J.D. asked him, ‘What actually happened with Jeffrey Epstein?’ Not a chance. He’s pulling every bit of this out of his ass.”

On The Late Show, Stephen Colbert noted that it’s been “J.D. Vance’s job to get out there to receive a swift kick in the nuts.” He then played a clip of Vance criticizing the pope. Vance said, “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.”

“Wow,” Colbert replied. “Hey, hey, J.D. I know you’re Catholic. But you joined in 2019. I’ve been genuflecting since the mid-1960s, and let me tell you, brother, I think you’re out over your Catholic skies here.” He added, “You know who left the last supper early? Judas.”