JD Vance’s ‘Very Awkward’ Stop at Georgia Donut Shop Goes Viral

Senator JD Vance faced ridicule over a viral video showing him stopping inside a Georgia donut shop on Thursday.

On Thursday, Vance visited Holt’s Sweet Shop in Valdosta, Georgia, a crucial battleground state Republicans are hoping will flip back to Trump after it narrowly voted for President Joe Biden in 2020. He faced a wave of ridicule over the video, with critics describing the stop as “awkward.” The campaign stop comes as Vance’s popularity among voters remains a sticking point for the Trump campaign.

Vance, an Ohio Republican, is former President Donald Trump’s running mate in the 2024 presidential election. He has cast himself as a staunch social conservative and close ally to the former president since his 2022 election. However, his stances on issues like abortion and LGBTQ+ rights have sparked fierce backlash from Democrats.

Vance has struggled in the polls since Trump picked him as his running mate, though recent surveys show that Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris are locked in a tight race.

FiveThirtyEight’s polling aggregate of Vance’s favorability had unfavorable opinions of Vance at 43.2 percent and favorable opinions of him at 33.2 percent on Thursday. Vance has said he does not believe these polls during a campaign stop in Philadelphia this week.

In video footage showing the campaign stop, Vance is seen conversing with an employee, saying that the “zoo has come to down” before asking his staff how many donuts he should order. The employee then asked not to be filmed while at work.

“She doesn’t want to be on film guys, so just cut her out of anything,” he said. “I appreciate that ma’am.”

He then introduced himself to the employee, “I’m JD Vance, I’m running for vice president.”

“Okay,” she responded. Vance continued to make small talk with the workers behind the counter.

Video of his visit quickly spread across social media, sparking a wave of jokes on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter.

“JD Vance had a very awkward visit to a donut shop in Georgia earlier. Trust us, it’s worse than you even think,” posted the left-leaning news outlet Meidas Touch, whose video of the encounter has been viewed more than one million times.

“‘I’m JD Vance…I’m running for vice president’….woman has no idea who he is and just trying to do her job,” wrote X user @WUTangKids. “These morons went to the wrong donut shop to do their stupid photo op.”

“I don’t think my face will ever un-cringe after watching this,” wrote journalist Aaron Rupar.

“Has JD Vance ever bought donuts? He has no idea how to talk to people. And the very smart lady behind the counter, who clearly does not give AF about Vance, said she DID not want to be on camera,” wrote X user Polly Sigh.

Newsweek reached out to the Trump campaign for comment via email.