JD Vance DESTROYS ABC’s George Stephanopoulos, Who Then Cuts Him Off

Jorge Bonilla
October 12th, 2025 5:41 PM

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It’s that time again, wherein ABC’s resident Clinton fixer-slash-”journalist” tries to dunk on someone within the Trump administration only to get absolutely cooked in the process. This week on This Week it’s Vice President JD Vance, laying waste to Stephanopoulos over his insistence on pushing a narrative regarding Border Czar Tom Homan at the expense of other news.

Watch as Stephanopoulos ends the interview and cuts Vance off when he calls out both his coverage of Homan and his lack of shutdown coverage, at least in the form of a question within this interview:

GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS: So you don't -- what was caught on the tape, you're saying right now, you don't know whether or not he kept that money?

JD VANCE: I don't know what tape you're referring to, George. I saw media reports that Tom Homan accepted a bribe. There is 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 of the United States about this story regarding Tom Homan, a story that I have read about, but I don't even know the video that you're talking about. Meanwhile, low-income women can't get food because the Democrats and Chuck Schumer have shut down the government. Right now, we're trying to figure out how to pay our troops because Chuck Schumer has shut down the government. You're focused on a bogus story, 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 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.

STEPHANOPOULOS: It's not a weird left-wing rabbit hole. I didn't insinuate anything. I asked you whether Tom Homan accepted $50,000 as was heard on an audiotape recorded by the FBI in September 2024, and you did not answer the question. Thank you for your time this morning.

VANCE: No, George, I said that I don't --

(CROSSTALK)

STEPHANOPOULOS: -- is up next. We'll be right back.

From the beginning of the interview, it was clear that Stephanopoulos was out to get Vance. A full day before the Sunday shows went to air, U.S. Central Command (CENTCEOM) made clear that there were to be no U.S. boots on the ground in Gaza. And yet Stephanopoulos insisted on pushing a “caight-in-the-crossfire” hypothetical.

After getting rebuffed by Vance, Stephanopoulos pushed lines of inquiry on both the National Guard deploying to Chicago and the Letitia James indictment, with similar results. Of note, Stephanopoulos didn’t take a retribution angle with the James indictment, instead going with whataboutism based off a ProPublica report accusing Republicans of doing the same. 

It is at this point that Steph asks the Homan question. Vance, sensing that Steph was running the clock out, blasted him after the sixth pass on the Homan question. No questions about the shutdown, but six about Homan. Which is why Stephanopoulos cuts Vance off then goes to commercial. An embarrassing spectacle from a news organization seemingly incapable of embarrassment.

Click “expand” to view the full transcript of the aforementioned interview as aired on ABC’s This Week with George Stephanopoulos, on Sunday, October 12th, 2025:

GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS: And we're joined now by Vice President JD Vance. Mr. Vice President, thank you for joining us this morning. Let's start with the Middle East. “The Wall Street Journal” is reporting that Hamas has confirmed they are holding 20 living hostages and that those hostages are going to be released in the next 24 hours, early as today perhaps. Have 20 living hostages been confirmed? When do you expect to see them?

JD VANCE: Well, they've been confirmed, George. Of course, you don't know until you see these people alive, but thank God we expect to see them alive here in the next 24 hours, probably early tomorrow morning, U.S. time, which will be later in the day, of course, in Israel. But look, George, we have to remember, this is a remarkable achievement from an administration that really chose a non-conventional path to diplomacy. And I think that's the major takeaway. The president of the United States instructed Marco Rubio, Jared Kushner, Steve Witkoff, he said, "Get a deal done. Talk to the Gulf Arab states. Talk to Israel. Find where there's common ground here and actually let's go and find a way to get it done." And because of that, we are on the cusp of true peace in the Middle East, really for the first time in my lifetime. Certainly, these 20 hostages are going to come home to their families. George, I think this is a great moment for our country. Our country should be proud of our diplomats who made this happen. It's really a great moment for the world, too, which is why the president's going to go over there and celebrate with these hostages. But it's a great thing and I'm very excited about it.

STEPHANOPOULOS: Two hundred U.S. troops are being sent to Israel to monitor the agreement. What exactly will they be doing? Will they actually go into Gaza? And are you concerned they could get caught in some crossfire?

VANCE: George, so that story is actually misreported. We already have troops at Central Command. We've had them for decades in this country. They are going to monitor the terms of the ceasefire. And that's everything from ensuring that the Israeli troops are at the agreed upon line, ensuring that Hamas is not attacking innocent Israelis, doing everything that they can to ensure the peace that we've created actually sustains and endures. But the idea that we're going to have troops on the ground in Gaza, in Israel, that is not our intention. That is not our plan. There was a bit of a misreporting there. But we are going to monitor this piece to ensure that it -- that it endures. The other piece of good news that's been underreported, I think, George, is that Indonesia and a number of other majority Muslim states, they've actually offered to send ground troops to Gaza to ensure the necessary peacekeeping takes place. That's not something the United States is going to be expected to do. That's something the Muslim world is going to step up and do. And that again is because of the Trump administration's diplomacy.

STEPHANOPOULOS: The president has also pushed for National Guard deployments in several American cities. As you know, that's been questioned by several federal judges, including Trump appointees, also the Republican governor of Oklahoma and chairman of the National Governors Association, Kevin Stitt. Here's what Governor Stitt said, “We believe in the federalist system that state -- that’s states' rights. Oklahomans would lose their mind if Pritzker in Illinois sent troops down to Oklahoma during the Biden administration.” How do you respond to Governor Stitt?

VANCE: Well, I'd say to Governor Stitt, you have to look at what's happening on the ground in Chicago. And the reason why Illinois is a different case from Chicago is because Chicago has been given over to lawlessness and gangs for too long, George. If you look at the murder rates in Chicago, the violent crime rates, you have -- you have women who have young families. They're terrified their kids are going to get killed in a drive-by shooting. We have accepted this for far too long in the United States of America in some of our biggest cities. And Chicago, unfortunately, is the worst. It's a beautiful city. It's got great people. We know the gross majority of the violent crime in that city is committed by a very tiny fraction of the population. Why shouldn't federal troops empower the people in Chicago to live safe lives when the governor and local -- the local mayor just simply refused to do their job?

STEPHANOPOULOS: But as you know, a federal judge, a U.S. district judge, has blocked the effort to deploy troops in Chicago. And it was Judge Perry -- and she actually said that a lot of these claims that were made, especially in the court filings, lack credibility.

VANCE: Well, George, we’re obviously going to litigate this as much as we can. We think that we have the authority to provide proper safety to our citizens all over the United States, but particularly in Chicago. But I think for any federal judge or anybody else to look at the situation and say is it tolerable? And I think the obvious answer, George, is no. The president looks at the situation, he sees the fact that you have multiple people dying of murders every weekend in the city of Chicago. And he says, this is intolerable. And it’s not just the people who live in Chicago, it’s the law enforcement in Chicago, federal, state, and local, who are trying to keep us safe, George. You’ve seen ICE agents being teed off on in suburban Chicago, in places all over the state of Illinois and other places, too. You see a thousand percent increase in violence against our ICE agents. They’re being assaulted. They’re being beaten. They’re being shot at. I think all Americans, Democrat or Republican, we look at the scenario, we say, this is not acceptable. We want people to be safe. We want our law enforcement officials to be empowered to keep us safe. We can do this. And that's exactly what the Trump administration has committed to doing.

STEPHANOPOULOS: Governor Pritzker is our next guest. President Trump has said that he should be in jail. Do you think Governor Pritzker has committed a crime?

VANCE: Well, think Governor Pritzker has certainly failed to keep the people of Illinois safe. And it’s interesting to me, you know, Governor Pritzker will talk a lot, I'm sure, about how bad Donald Trump is, about how bad I am and about how bad the administration is. He is the governor of a state that- where its biggest city has murder rates that -- that rival the most violent places in the third world, George, why is he so mad at Donald Trump for trying to keep Chicagoans safe? He should be mad at the criminals that he has failed to keep at bay. We’re trying to help him. And we’re trying to help the residents of his biggest city. I wish that he would let us because he certainly isn't doing the job himself.

STEPHANOPOULOS: I asked if you agree with President Trump that Governor Pritzker has committed a crime.

VANCE: Well, I think that Governor Pritzker has allowed a lot of people to be killed in the city of Chicago and elsewhere, George. I think that it's disgraceful. And I think that he absolutely should suffer some consequences for the fact that there are thousands of innocent Chicagoans who are dead because he failed to do his job.

STEPHANOPOULOS: It’s a -- it’s really a yes or no question, do you believe he’s committed a crime?

VANCE: George, you’re going to keep on asking this question. I'm going to keep on telling you that Governor Pritzker failed to do his job. He should suffer some consequences. Whether he’s violated a crime, ultimately, I would leave to the courts. But I certainly think that he has violated his fundamental oath of office. That seems pretty criminal to me. I’d leave it to a judge and jury to decide whether he’s actually violated the crime.

STEPHANOPOULOS: Let me also ask you, as we saw the indictment this week of Letitia James on questions of -- of mortgage fraud, also Lisa Cook has -- has been accused by the Trump administration of committing mortgage fraud as well. The journalism outlet, “ProPublica” has actually published a story, and I want to show it up on the screen right now, that says that several members of the Trump administration have faced similar questions. “Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer entered into two primary-residence mortgages in quick succession. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy has primary-residence mortgages in New Jersey and Washington, D.C. Lee Zeldin, the Environmental Protection Agency administrator, has one primary-residence mortgage in Long Island and another in Washington, D.C.” How do you respond to critics who say that the Trump administration is engaging in a double standard here?

VANCE: Well, I’d say two things, George. First of all, “ProPublica” is basically a left-wing blog. I’m not shocked that you found a left-wing blog that can attack members of the Trump administration. But second, and this is the most important, is, what does the law say? Letitia James was indicted in a left-leaning part of our country, a part that voted very heavily against Donald J. Trump, for the crime of mortgage fraud. When I read the indictment, when I read the facts in the case, I see a person who committed mortgage fraud. Now, of course, the jury is going to decide whether she ultimately committed a crime. We don't try her. The administration doesn't try her. A judge tries the case, and a jury decides whether she’s ultimately guilty. That is what is going to determine whether she goes to prison. I think we let the facts drive this. And, George, that's what we’ve tried to do in the administration's Department of Justice. We’ve asked ourselves, has a person violated the law. And if that person has violated the law, then we decide to prosecute them. That's what the Department of Justice should do. It didn't do that under Joe Biden's administration. It does under Donald Trump's.

STEPHANOPOULOS: On the facts, do you dispute the facts that "ProPublica" reported?

VANCE: Do I dispute a far-left blog that I haven’t read that you brought up in this interview? I have no idea, George. I have no idea what they actually said. But I’d certainly question the source. I question their credibility. And, most importantly, I’m not worried about what they said about members of our administration. I ask the question, what does the law say? And if the law says that you engaged in mortgage fraud, and a local prosecutor, a local grand jury and a -- and finally a jury convicts you of that crime, then that is how the justice system is meant to work in the United States of America.

STEPHANOPOULOS: The White House border czar, Tom Homan, was recorded on an FBI surveillance tape in September 2024 accepting $50,000 in cash. Did he keep that money or give it back?

VANCE: George, you've covered this story ad nauseam. Tom Homan did not take a bribe. It's a ridiculous smear. And the reason you guys are going after Tom Homan so aggressively is because he's doing the job of enforcing the law. I think it's really preposterous. I know Tom. I think that he's a good man. He gets death threats, he gets attacked, he gets constantly threatened by people because he has the audacity to want to enforce the country's immigration laws. I think that it would be a much more interesting story about why is it that Tom Homan, who is simply enforcing America's immigration laws, is getting constantly harassed and threatened to the point of death threats. That's a much more interesting question that I think journalists should focus on. We can agree to disagree on that question.

STEPHANOPOULOS: But, wait, you said he didn't take a bribe. But I'm not sure you answered the question. Are you saying that he did not accept the $50,000?

VANCE: George, this story has been covered ad nauseam. He did not take a bribe. Did he accept $50,000? I am sure that in the course of Tom Homan's life he has been paid more than $50,000 for services. The question is, did he do something illegal, and there is absolutely no evidence that Tom Homan has ever taken a bribe or done anything illegal.

(CROSSTALK)

STEPHANOPOULOS: No, I'm asking -- I'm asking a different question. I'm asking you did he accept --

VANCE: Which is why he's working in the administration.

STEPHANOPOULOS: I'm asking you, did he accept the $50,000 that was caught on the surveillance tape? Did he accept that $50,000 or not?

VANCE: George, I don't know what you're talking about. Did he accept $50,000 for what?

STEPHANOPOULOS: He was recorded on an audiotape in September of 2024, an FBI surveillance tape, accepting $50,000 in cash. Did he keep that money?

VANCE: Accepting $50,000 for doing what, George? I am not even sure I understand the question. Is it illegal to take a payment for doing services? The FBI has not prosecuted him. I have never seen any evidence that he's engaged in criminal wrongdoing. Nobody has accused Tom of violating a crime, even the far-left media like yourself. So I'm actually not sure what the precise question is. Did he accept $50,000? Honestly, George, I don't know the answer to that question. What I do know is that he didn't violate a crime.

STEPHANOPOULOS: So you don't -- what was caught on the tape, you're saying right now, you don't know whether or not he kept that money?

VANCE: I don't know what tape you're referring to, George. I saw media reports that Tom Homan accepted a bribe. There is 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 of the United States about this story regarding Tom Homan, a story that I have read about, but I don't even know the video that you're talking about. Meanwhile, low-income women can't get food because the Democrats and Chuck Schumer have shut down the government. Right now, we're trying to figure out how to pay our troops because Chuck Schumer has shut down the government. You're focused on a bogus story, 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 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.

STEPHANOPOULOS: It's not a weird left-wing rabbit hole. I didn't insinuate anything. I asked you whether Tom Homan accepted $50,000 as was heard on an audiotape recorded by the FBI in September 2024, and you did not answer the question. Thank you for your time this morning.

VANCE: No, George, I said that I don't --

(CROSSTALK)

STEPHANOPOULOS: -- is up next. We'll be right back.

 

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