Team Vance Responds After Pro-Ukraine Demonstrators Harass VP, Daughter
The Trump administration has addressed an incident that took place over the weekend involving Vice President JD Vance and his three-year-old daughter. Both were confronted and shouted at by pro-Ukraine demonstrators in Vermont.
A video shared by WCPO 9 News, a Cincinnati, Ohio-based outlet, showed protesters chanting that “people are dying” and accusing the Trump administration of “selling out” Ukraine. However, the footage did not reveal how the confrontation initially started.
“Today while walking my 3 year old daughter a group of ‘Slava Ukraini’ protesters followed us around and shouted as my daughter grew increasingly anxious and scared,” Vance wrote on X on Saturday.
“I decided to speak with the protesters in the hopes that I could trade a few minutes of conversation for them leaving my toddler alone. (Nearly all of them agreed),” he continued. “It was a mostly respectful conversation, but if you’re chasing a 3-year-old as part of a political protest, you’re a sh*t person.”
The phrase “Slava Ukraini” serves as a national slogan for Ukraine’s armed forces and translates to “Glory to Ukraine.” It has been widely embraced by pro-Ukraine demonstrators across the United States and was used by those confronting Vance.
As protesters waved Ukrainian flags and voiced their concerns about the ongoing war, they directed chants at the vice president, insisting that “people are dying.” Vance remained composed, engaging in discussion about their fears regarding Russia while emphasizing the importance of finding a resolution to the conflict.
“Russia certainly invaded Ukraine in 2022, but there needs to be a settlement,” Vance said as a woman among the demonstrators attempted to shout over him. As he continued to speak, more protesters joined in, with some accusing him of having “no integrity.”
Vance responded by stating: “Ma’am, I am with my 3-year-old daughter now, and I told you, I would talk to you for five minutes,” emphasizing that he had not gone out with his child to “have people run around and yell at her.”
Following the incident, Vance’s communications team, including his communications director William Martin, addressed the situation, particularly in response to claims made by Jimmy Rushton, a Kyiv-based foreign policy analyst and self-identified journalist.
Rushton posted on X a video of what appeared to be an intersection in the Vermont neighborhood where the incident occurred, alleging, “Video of the protest has emerged and it’s pretty clear Vance is lying; the protest was at the bottom of Vance’s street, which was closed by police. It would have been impossible for the protesters to ‘follow’ Vance and his family around as he claimed.”
However, Martin countered: “Anyone that’s ever been here knows Jimmy is full of shit because the video of these Slava Ukraini scumbags harassing the Vice President’s daughter takes place on a completely different street nearby, as someone who grew up 2 miles from here I knew instantly where it happened.”
He went on to say: “Notice the awning of the storefront right behind him? It actually confirms the VP’s tweet because they would have had to follow him in order to have this encounter in the first place. Jimmy might have paused to consider some of this if he weren’t such a dumb f**k.”
Additionally, video evidence from the incident confirms that some protesters harassed and shouted at Vance.
The confrontation involving Vance and his daughter comes just weeks after the vice president, along with President Donald Trump, had a tense exchange with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in the Oval Office.
According to reports, Zelensky declined to sign an agreement regarding rare earth mineral rights with the U.S. as previously pledged and instead pushed for additional security assurances from Trump.