For all his legendary pugnacity, President Donald Trump has a sense of humor, which helps explain why liberals loathe him.
In that respect, among others, Trump has a kindred spirit in Vice President J.D. Vance.
Speaking Tuesday at the Ohio Republican Party dinner in Lima, Ohio, Vance shared an anecdote that highlighted the president’s ability to handle serious things without taking himself or the situation too seriously.
“We’d probably been in the Oval Office for all of ten days,” Vance said in a video on YouTube. “And I’m sitting there, and we have a phone call with a foreign leader. I won’t mention who. And it’s a tough phone call; there’s some tough issues that we have to work through with this foreign leader, and [Trump] asked me to come sit behind him at the Resolute Desk, so that if I need to say anything I can just speak directly into the speaker phone.”
In other words, Trump certainly regarded the situation as serious. He wanted Vance with him on the “tough phone call.”
At this point, one thinks of the president and vice president’s now-famous clash with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in front of reporters inside the White House in February.
“And it’s early in the administration,” Vance added, “so there’s not a whole lot in the Oval Office yet. And there’s this, sort of, wooden box with a red button sitting on the Resolute Desk.”
That alone drew laughs from the audience. After all, the “red button” in the Oval Office has always conjured images of a nuclear-weapons launch.
Does President Trump have a good sense of humor?
“And I think to myself, ‘That’s probably not a button that you want to press,’ right?” Vance continued. “So we’re talking to this foreign leader, and the president looks over at me, puts the foreign leader on mute, and says, ‘This is not going very well,’ and he presses the red button.”
Again, both Vance and the audience laughed. They knew, of course, that Trump did not actually order a nuclear strike. But did the vice president know that at the time?
“My eyes get really big,” Vance recalled, still laughing. “And I’m like, ‘Mr. President, what just happened?’ And he looks at me, and he goes, ‘Nuclear, nuclear.’”
Then came the punchline.
“And two minutes later,” Vance said, “a guy walks in with a Diet Coke, and he looks back at me, and he says, ‘It wasn’t nuclear; it’s just the Diet Coke button.’”
“So that’s the kind of guy, my fellow Republicans,” the vice president added, “that we have as the president of the United States, a guy who could do a good job but keep a sense of humor.”
Readers may view Vance’s comments, as well as his entire speech, in the YouTube video below. The relevant segment began around the 6:50 mark.
Can anyone imagine a prominent Democrat delivering a speech like that?
Of course, it hardly takes a professional diagnosis to understand why so many liberals come across as humorless scolds. As a rule, they take themselves seriously, but they also hate themselves, and they hate the world as God made it, so they spread misery wherever they go.
Thus, from Democrats we see only flashes of self-deprecating humanity. One thinks, for instance, of a September campaign appearance in which former President Joe Biden played to an audience of Trump supporters by donning a red “Trump” hat.
Otherwise, they seem to live for the thrill of hectoring and policing their neighbors. Self-important Democrats, like former Vice President Kamala Harris, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and countless others, have never said or done anything intentionally funny.
By contrast, Trump does serious things without taking himself seriously. Recall, for instance, late in the 2024 campaign, when Biden referred to Trump supporters as “garbage,” Trump showed up at a Wisconsin rally sporting the type of orange vest worn by garbage-truck drivers.
Likewise, Vance has had his share of hilarious moments, especially when dealing with the establishment media. Many of those moments have gone viral.
In short, humorless liberals will never understand the appeal of Trump and Vance.
Advertise with The Western Journal and reach millions of highly engaged readers, while supporting our work. Advertise Today.
