Never one to hold back, JD Vance hilariously roasted Oren Cass, a self-described conservative who has vociferously opposed President Trump’s policies, calling Cass an “a–hole” on stage at an event hosted by Cass, drawing laughter and cheers from the crowd.
For context, on June 3, 2025, at a black-tie event in Washington, D.C., hosted by the conservative think tank American Compass, Vice President JD Vance jokingly roasted his host, Oren Cass, calling him an “a–hole” after Cass pointed out that the vice president had written for the National Review and described him as “an intellectual.”
During the conversation between Cass and Vice President Vance, the VP praised Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who also spoke at the event, saying that Rubio is “if anything, more impressive privately than he is publicly, which is very hard to do. But he’s very thoughtful. He actually listens, which is a rare skill in politics.” The vice president added, “We’re very good at talking, us politicians. We’re not so good, often, at listening.”
In response, Oren Cass said that his organization was “thrilled” to be joined by the vice president, adding that he was “so grateful that the work you’re doing, and in a sense, so in awe of it, because there are politicians out there who are…they’ve just been politicians.” He continued, “You are someone who was an intellectual first.”
Going on to make a comment that has now become infamous, Cass said, “Some people don’t like the word ‘intellectual,’ but I mean it in the good sense of the term. You were writing for National Review. You were at the bar late at night, arguing about and helping shape these ideas that you are now.”
In response, the vice president jokingly said, “I come here for free, and you insult me and you call me an intellectual, remind me that I wrote for the National Review.” He added, “What an a–hole this guy is.” Cass replied, “That’s fair. I will admit that I, too, wrote for National Review, but as I said in my introductory remarks earlier, I have no higher compliment than this guy likes to argue.”
Later in the conversation, the vice president spoke candidly about the Trump Administration’s plan for education reform, saying that his advice for universities would be, “Why don’t you just follow the civil rights laws of our country?” He added, “And that nearly every elite university in the country is explicitly not doing. Okay, so that’s one thing that they might consider doing.”
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Continuing, VP Vance said that he wanted to see universities be “willing,” adding, “We have got to have a scientific community that is more open to unacceptable inquiry and that actually encourages bright young minds to go wherever the truth leads them.” Vance continued, “And I think that’s where the universities have become almost quasi-theocratic or quasi-totalitarian societies.”
Watch a clip from Vance’s remarks:
Featured image credit: screengrab from the embedded video