J.D. Vance responded to George Stephanopoulos on This Week about Trump border czar Tom Homan being investigated for accepting $50,000 in cash in a restaurant takeout bag from undercover agents to help win contracts for businesses during a second Trump administration, and it didn't go down well. The Trump Justice Department closed the bribery investigation in 2025 before any charges were filed.
Vance lashed out with feigned outrage that Stephanopoulos would insinuate criminal wrongdoing, but that was after the Vice President suggested that Democratic Governor JB Pritzker's behavior seemed pretty criminal to him.
How dare anyone suggest that Homan, who walked out with 50 grand in a paper bag, did anything wrong! Let he or she who has not accepted $50,000 from undercover FBI agents, then walked away with the cash in a paper bag, cast the first stone
"George, I saw media reports that Tom Homan accepted a bribe," Vance said. "There's no evidence of that."
"And here's, George, why fewer and fewer people watch your program, and why you're losing credibility because you're talking for now five minutes with the Vice President United States about this story regarding Tom Homan, a story that I've read about, but I don't even know the video that you're talking about," he insisted.
"Meanwhile, low-income women can't get food because the Democrats and Chuck Schumer have shut down the government," he continued. "Right now we're trying to figure out how to pay our troops because Chuck Schumer has shutdown the government."
"You were focused on a bogus story," he added. "You're insinuating criminal wrongdoing against a guy who has done nothing wrong instead of focusing on the fact that our country is struggling because our government's shut down. Let's talk about the real issues, George. I think the American people would benefit much more from that than from you going down some weird left-wing rabbit hole where the facts clearly show that Tom Homan didn't engage in any criminal wrongdoing."
"it's not a weird left-wing rabbit hole," Stephanopoulos shot back. "I didn't insinuate anything. I asked you whether Tom Homan accepted $50,000, as was heard on an audio tape recorded by the FBI in September 2024, and you did not answer the question."
"Thank you for your time this morning," Stephanopoulos said while ending the interview.
"No, I said that I don't," Vance said before the 'This Week' host cut him off.
Vance reacted on the Bad App after the interview, calling Homan's bribery accusations "a fake scandal."
Peace in the Middle East? China threatening critical supply chains? Government shutdown?
George S doesn’t care about that. He’s here to focus on the real story: a fake scandal involving Tom Homan. https://t.co/LuIFo3QSTi— JD Vance (@JDVance) October 12, 2025
