Senator JD Vance is facing online criticism after he made a sarcastic comment about President Joe Biden during a discussion about the upcoming 25th anniversary of the September 11th attacks.
Vance, who will be representing the current administration at the ceremony in New York, initially sought to frame the event as a moment of bipartisan unity. "The sense of commonality and common purpose that we all had on 9/11 is something that we should really try every single day to get back to," Vance stated.
However, he then added a sarcastic remark directed at Biden, who is also expected to attend. "As you guys can probably guess, I’m really looking forward to hanging out with Joe Biden. I’m sure that we’ll have many, many intense intellectual conversations. ... We’ll have a great time," Vance said.
The remarks quickly drew criticism from some social media users who deemed the joke inappropriate, particularly given that Biden was diagnosed with Stage IV prostate cancer last year.
Other notable figures expected to attend the ground zero commemoration include former Presidents Barack Obama, George W. Bush, and Bill Clinton. President Donald Trump reportedly will not attend, as no speeches are planned for his appearance.
Vance was chosen to represent the administration at the ceremony, while Trump reportedly opted out due to the no-speeches policy.