Political Tribune

J.D. Vance, Opinion, Politics, Tariffs

J.D. Vance Uses One Derogatory Word In Reference To China — Americans Are Disgusted

The vice president misspoke when trying to defend the administration's tariffs.

578
578 points

The Trump Administration’s trade policy has forced administration officials to defend the policy to the press, which can be hard to do when the policies are so nonsensical. And it’s led to frequent unforced errors.

One such error was committed by Vice President J.D. Vance when he appeared on Fox News Monday.

“We borrow money from Chinese peasants to buy the things those Chinese peasants manufacture,” Vance said Monday in a Fox & Friends interview.

Needless to say, this is quite an oversimplification of the trade relationship between the U.S. and China; the U.S. does not really “borrow money from China.” And those in China who do business with the United States are not “peasants.”

Many also pointed out that Vance’s actions were hypocritical, as he famously grew up in abject poverty himself.

Others called it racist to use words like “peasants.”

“Racism, imperialism, arrogance, and ignorance,” one X user said of Vance.

Meanwhile, Marketwatch pointed out that Trump is wrong about the size of Trump’s trade deficit with China.

“The U.S. does run a large deficit with China, but it’s not nearly as big as the president contended. The gap with China rose slightly last year to $263 billion, government statistics show,” Marketwatch said. “The U.S. imported $462 billion in goods such as iPhones, TVs, clothes and chemicals from China in 2024, while U.S. exports to that country totaled just under $200 billion, led by services, chemicals, soybeans and oil.”

Photo courtesy of the Political Tribune media library. 


Stephen Silver

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Stephen Silver is an award-winning journalist, essayist and film critic, and contributor to the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Broad Street Review and Splice Today. The co-founder of the Philadelphia Film Critics Circle, Stephen lives in suburban Philadelphia with his wife and two sons. Stephen has authored thousands of articles that focus on politics, technology, and the economy.

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