JD Vance has a message for Americans sick of high prices: Blame the people who caused the problem.
There’s just one critical issue with that message. It can be read as pointing the finger at Donald Trump, whose decision to start a war with Iran on Israel’s behalf helped send energy prices higher and added another source of inflationary pressure.
That was essentially the vice president’s pitch Monday as he tried to explain away the administration’s growing affordability problem less than two months before the November midterms.
“If you’re frustrated about high prices, you have every reason to be frustrated by high prices,” Vance told Newsmax host Greg Kelly.
“Don’t give power to the crazy people who started these problems in the first place,” Vance said.
In other words: Yes, prices are high. Yes, voters have a right to be upset. But according to Vance, the people responsible are supposed to be the Democrats.
The problem with that argument is that Americans are looking at their grocery receipts, utility bills and gas pumps — not just White House talking points.
And recent polling suggests voters are increasingly holding Trump, rather than his predecessor, responsible for the current state of the economy.
A September University of Massachusetts Amherst poll found that 82% of Americans said grocery prices had increased in recent months, while 78% said gas prices had risen. Fifty-three percent said Trump was responsible for those developments, compared with only 9% who blamed former President Joe Biden.
A Reuters/Ipsos poll released this week found that only 17% of respondents approved of Trump’s handling of cost-of-living issues.
That’s a pretty awkward backdrop for Vance’s argument that voters should blame the people who held power before Trump.
Gasoline prices have climbed sharply since Trump returned to power, while diesel prices have reached record levels. AP reported this week that rising fuel costs are becoming a major concern for voters heading into the midterms.
The national average price of diesel has climbed above $6 a gallon, with the record increase putting pressure on trucking, agriculture and other industries that depend heavily on diesel fuel.
Vance’s argument is basically: don’t blame us.
But reality makes that argument considerably more complicated.
Trump is the president. His administration controls federal economic policy. And Republicans control both chambers of Congress.
Vance is asking voters to be furious about high prices while simultaneously telling them not to hold the people currently running the government responsible for doing something about them.
Vance’s comments quickly became fodder for critics online, who seized on his warning about voters being “frustrated” with high prices, arguing that Vance was referring to his own “deranged” administration.
“That’s the only message to gain from this statement. Sheer projection here,” one commenter wrote.
Another user, @lisa_liberal, immediately saw an opportunity for Democrats, writing, “This needs to be a Democrat advertisement in 5…4…3…”
Former Democratic National Committee chair Donna Brazile also jumped into the reaction, taking aim at the administration on X.
“The crazy folks started a tariff riff with our allies and a war of choice with no strategy to end it. Guess we’re sick of crazy,” Brazile wrote.
Watch the clip below:
JD Vance: "The message is don't give power to the crazy people who started these problems in the first place. If you're frustrated about high prices, you have every reason to be." pic.twitter.com/TtqbLEWk6m
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) September 22, 2026
