Vice President JD Vance didn’t hold back Thursday when protesters repeatedly interrupted his speech in Florida, blasting one heckler as a “Democrat plant” and a “clown.”
Vance was speaking at a campaign event in Lakeland, Florida, when protesters in the crowd heckled him multiple times. Rather than ignore the disruptions, the vice president stopped his speech on several occasions to respond to them directly.
The first interruption came as Vance was praising Sen. Ashley Moody, R-Fla., and drumming up midterm support for her. As the crowd applauded, a man could be heard screaming over the noise.
After trying several times to get back into his remarks, Vance turned his attention to the heckler.
“We got a clown over here, ladies and gentlemen,” Vance said.
The crowd answered by breaking into a “USA!” chant.
Once the chanting died down, Vance accused the man of being a “Democrat plant” and announced that he was being kicked out of the event.
“You always have to laugh at these protesters because that guy, you know, he pretends like he just broke out into an emotional protest, but he made sure to bring a cell phone at the end of a pole,” Vance said.
The vice president continued, telling the audience that the man was not a representative voter from Florida.
“Ladies and gentlemen, that guy was nothing more, as we know this is not a representative voter from the state of Florida, that guy is a Democrat plant,” he said. “He wants to raise your taxes and release illegal aliens on the streets of Florida. Well, we kicked him out just like we’re gonna kick out the rest of the Democrats who want to do the exact same thing.”
SECOND PROTESTER INTERRUPTS
The first heckler’s removal didn’t end the disruptions. Shortly after he was booted, a female protester interrupted Vance again.
This time, Vance was talking about Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla., who is running for governor. A woman in the crowd repeatedly yelled during his remarks, and her outbursts eventually drew boos from the audience.
Vance once again brought his speech to a halt. But instead of simply calling out the protester, he told the crowd exactly what she was yelling about, and then used the moment to work his way back into his pitch for Donalds.
“Now what what that woman is yelling is that she wants left wing bureaucrats in control of your schools, but Byron thinks you oughta be in charge of your kids’ schools,” Vance said.
VANCE STUMPS FOR FLORIDA REPUBLICANS
The Lakeland stop saw Vance rally support for two Florida Republicans, Moody and Donalds, as part of the midterm campaign push.
Throughout the event, the vice president repeatedly paused his remarks to confront the protesters head-on, mocking the first heckler’s cell phone on a pole and turning the second protester’s interruption into a talking point about who should be in charge of children’s schools.
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