JD Vance’s pep rally for Alaska Sen. Dan Sullivan hit a speed bump when a heckler appeared to insult both the vice president and Donald Trump.
The vice president was in Fairbanks Monday to try to shore up support for the Republican incumbent, who finds himself in a tight race against Democrat Mary Peltola, a former Alaska congresswoman. Peltola had a 7-point lead in a New York Times/University of Siena poll taken last week, while a Quantus Insights poll – also from last week – showed a statistical tie.
Vance, 42, said that with Sullivan, 61, in power, “the Pentagon will no longer kick Alaska out.”
“It’s also not ignoring the incredible strategic opportunity of this incredible state. Much of that is happening right next door to Eielson, which is home to two squadrons of F-35s,” he continued, as the heckler called on him.
“I don’t know if Ohio has two squadrons of F-35s, Dan,” Vance continued, seeming to spot the drama in the crowd but speaking through it. “The historic 11th Airborne Division and billions of dollars in new missile defense investments across the Golden Dome…”
Vance then paused his comments and addressed the disruption.
“Ladies and gentlemen, of course we needed someone who wanted to spoil the party,” he said. “But our message to him is: No, we’re not going to elect this far-left radical. We’re going to elect Dan Sullivan.”
What the protester was saying could not be discerned on the broadcast, but a White House report indicated that as he was being escorted from the premises, the man shouted insults, apparently about Vance and Trump. One of the words he used was “pervert.”
A video from White House co-official Mary Margaret Olohan showed the heckler, a gray-haired man wearing a blue “Alaska” hat and a shirt that read in part “Putin and P—y.” The man has not been identified.
Footage from Alaska’s News Source shows the man being escorted out of the gathering while shouting, “Stay off my couch!” It appears the man was referring to a fake viral meme surrounding the vice president that exploded online in 2024, alleging Vance described having sex with a couch cushion.
Vance’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Daily Beast.
Vance has been the target of hecklers before. While in Florida last week, he called one of them a “clown” and a “plant Democrat.”
In his speech Tuesday, Vance eerily described Democrats as trying to “steal” an election.
“My friends, Democrats are obsessed with this state in this cycle. AOC, Kamala Harris and the rest, see the final frontier as their last, best hope to take America in a far-left direction, to impeach Donald J. Trump, to stop the energy projects we are building all over this state, and to strangle this state and this country’s incredible progress,” he said.
“They’re ruthless. They’ll do whatever they have to do, even cheat, lie, and put someone on the ballot who has no other reason to be there than to help them steal an election.”
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