Vice President JD Vance seemed to get lost in the sauce as he explained his own definition of socialism during a Thursday press conference.
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Asked how he “personally” defines socialism at a time when self-described socialists and other populist, deep left candidates are gaining ground within the Democratic party and beyond, he tried to sully the idea of a pro-worker politics with petty culture war fodder.
“It’s honestly, it’s a hard term to define these days because very often socialism… you know socialism is about prioritizing workers,” Vance said, claiming that most of the socialists he sees running for office would “howl” about the measures to suspend visas for tech workers he was announcing that day.
“I don’t know what the term means anymore,” he went on. “I think in reality what it actually means in the American context is you want to replace American workers with foreigners workers, and you want boys to play in girls’ sports. That’s what unites the socialists that I see running across the United States of America today.”
Q: How do you define socialism personally?
JD VANCE: I think in reality what it actually means in the American context is you want to replace American workers with foreigners workers, and you want boys to play in girls’ sports pic.twitter.com/2tMA487lRp
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) October 8, 2026
His messy, incorrect definition was widely mocked by both the left and the right online, where many wondered how the Ivy League-educated attorney could get things so wrong.
“He was supposed to be a serious intellectual right wing figure but he never had it in him. Vance has never had an interesting or original thought in his entire life,” conservative journalist Pedro L. Gonzalez wrote on X. “That’s why he quietly courted people like [alt-right pundit Jack] Posobiec before running for office, why he sounds like Hannity.”
Offering a far, far less generous take, former MSNBC anchor Keith Olbermann said, “Jayvee Vance has the IQ of a pile of dead fish. Sadly, his ethics aren’t nearly that high.”
Others knew just the game Vance was trying to play.
As former Michigan congressman Justin Amash (R) wrote on X, “‘Socialism is when I don’t like something.’”
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Check out more reactions below.
Sir, an unhinged definition of socialism has just hit the timeline. pic.twitter.com/fvdvoE2MfJ
— Jaja (@JajaBreed) October 8, 2026
Jayvee Vance has the IQ of a pile of dead fish.
Sadly, his ethics aren’t nearly that high https://t.co/g7QQUFm5vp
— Keith Olbermann (@KeithOlbermann) October 8, 2026
There’s no chapter in Das Kapital where Marx discusses men playing women’s sports.
— Bruce Crossing (@SenatorCrossing) October 8, 2026
“Socialism is when I don’t like something.” https://t.co/YjZvVHjVpZ
— Justin Amash (@justinamash) October 8, 2026
This clips explains why all of those GOP attack ads aren’t landing like they hoped https://t.co/XvuJEVikqv
— Dan Pfeiffer (@danpfeiffer) October 8, 2026
That’s not socialism that’s your personal opinion on two things that have nothing to do with socialism.
— Diane McKenna (@DianeMcKenna22) October 8, 2026
Either JD Vance is very stupid or he thinks you are.
Pick your poison. https://t.co/WEc0rZnML3
— Mike Coté (@ratlpolicy) October 8, 2026
“My definition of socialism is anything I can say that will scare the idiot cultists.”
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— ERIC LENT (@ERICLENT1367204) October 8, 2026
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