Vice President JD Vance made a surprising statement in Kansas City, Missouri, telling a crowd of supporters to vote against himself. “Vote against the crazy leadership in Washington, D.C.,” he said. The remarks came when Vance was in Kansas City to speak about the administration’s efforts to fight fraud.
According to HuffPost, Vance spoke out against billions of dollars in alleged Medicaid fraud, calling it “theft from you, and it’s also theft from the people who use the Medicare program to pay their bills.” His task force has already withheld $1.4 billion in federal funding following a crackdown on fraud operations in California, Minnesota, and other states.
However, Vance’s remarks came just hours after the Justice Department announced it would commit $1.7 billion in taxpayer dollars to an “anti-weaponization fund” to pay out allies of President Donald Trump who were investigated under Democratic administrations. Critics have denounced the fund as a “slush fund” and “outright theft” from taxpayers.
The $1.7 billion anti-weaponization fund has drawn sharp criticism from Democrats
Trump has long claimed that the Biden administration weaponized its Justice Department against him and his allies. In exchange for the creation of this fund, the Trump family will drop an IRS lawsuit, as well as the president’s other claims of damages related to the 2022 search of Mar-a-Lago and the 2016 Russian election interference probe.
The fund’s creation sparked outrage among Democratic lawmakers, with dozens condemning the move as a misuse of taxpayer money. California Governor Gavin Newsom’s Press Office asked, “What is it when the President protects fraudsters?”
Democratic Rep. Emanuel Cleaver also wrote, “While American families drown under the Republican cost-of-living crisis, the President of the United States is stealing $1.7 BILLION in taxpayer funding to create an unprecedented slush fund for his political allies.”
This is not the first time the Trump administration has faced accusations of corruption. Since returning to office, Trump has directed the Department of Justice to investigate and prosecute political opponents, despite previously accusing his predecessor of doing the same.
The Lincoln Project, an anti-Trump PAC, responded to Vance’s remarks in Missouri with: “Just today his boss robbed taxpayers for a $1.7 billion slush fund so he can pay off his political allies and friends.”
Vance, who has built a reputation as an anti-establishment figure, has repeatedly spoken out against the very system he is now a part of. Vance has also been at the center of several diplomatic controversies in recent months. His call to vote against himself was widely seen as an attempt to distance himself from the controversy surrounding the administration, but it only added to the confusion around his position.
The timing of Vance’s anti-fraud message, coming on the same day as the Justice Department’s fund announcement, drew attention to what many see as a contradiction. While the vice president was calling out fraud in Medicaid, his administration was simultaneously directing nearly $2 billion toward a fund that critics say benefits Trump’s political circle. Vance has previously drawn criticism for overstepping boundaries on matters of faith and foreign policy.
Published: May 19, 2026 11:07 am