Adam Kinzinger calls out JD Vance and reminds Americans of his ‘many errors’

Another day, another helpful reminder from Adam Kinzinger, this time courtesy of his response to vice president JD Vance’s recent comments about China. 

In case you missed it, Vance appeared on Fox News last week to defend president Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs on China, arguing that without them, the current economic dealings with the country are “not a recipe for economic prosperity.” To make his point, Vance argued that without tariffs, the U.S. “[incurs] a huge amount of debt to buy things that other countries make for us,” before launching into a questionable analogy involving the term “Chinese peasants.” 

“We borrow money from Chinese peasants to buy the things that Chinese peasants manufacture.” – JD Vance

Yeah. I’m sure the Politburo is going to take that comment very well.

pic.twitter.com/D0NuLIb0df

— Spencer Hakimian (@SpencerHakimian) April 9, 2025

“To make it a little more crystal clear, we borrow money from Chinese peasants to buy the things those Chinese peasants manufacture,” Vance said. Since he hasn’t let up in his quest to hold the administration to account, Kinzinger took to social media to condemn Vance’s comments, saying they were the result of an inexperienced politician who makes “so many errors.” Kinzinger re-shared the clip of Vance and wrote: “Remember [Vance] is what happens when you put a 39 year old with no government experience in office.”

Vance’s lack of experience was a major talking point when he was named as Trump’s running mate last year, since he was only part-way through his six-year Senate term and had never managed a federal agency or Cabinet office. Vance’s inexperience isn’t the only source of aggravation for Kinzinger, who has criticized the vice president on everything from his response to the assassination attempt on Trump back in September, to his involvement in the White House verbal spat with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, to his more recent trip to Greenland in service of Trump’s annexation plans. 

Remember @JDVance is what happens when you put a 39 year old with no govt experience in office.

So many errors https://t.co/JezDEgBusb

— Adam Kinzinger (Slava Ukraini) 🇺🇸🇺🇦 (@AdamKinzinger) April 9, 2025

Making matters worse, Vance received swift rebuke for his “peasant” comments by China itself, with Lin Jian, a spokesperson for the Chinese foreign ministry, telling media outlets that “it’s both astonishing and lamentable to hear this vice-president make such ignorant and disrespectful remarks.” Even before Vance’s regrettable comments, the topic of tariffs had caught the ire of Beijing, particularly in the wake of Trump’s announcement of tariffs on China last month. 

“If war is what the U.S. wants, be it a tariff war, a trade war, or any other type of war, we’re ready to fight till the end,” the official account of the Chinese Embassy in the United States wrote on X. While Vance is the target now, Kinzinger’s criticisms of the Trump administration have been consistent and wide-ranging ever since Inauguration Day. The politician has taken aim at everything from Trump’s response to the Potomac mid-air collision, to his economic agenda, and his stance on the Russia-Ukraine war. 

beijing foreign ministry spox lin jian on jd vance’s “chinese peasants” comment

“it’s both astonishing and lamentable to hear this vice-president make such ignorant and disrespectful remarks.”
“pressure, threats and blackmail are not the right way to deal with china.” pic.twitter.com/xLY8Mh9ROP

— ian bremmer (@ianbremmer) April 8, 2025

So sweeping is Kinzinger’s distaste for Trump that, last week, he published a lengthy (and scathing) Substack essay explaining the “legacy of broken promises” that will be left by the administration. Part of Kinzinger’s months-long takedown has included criticisms of the Democrats, whom he has denounced on multiple occasions for their lack of action in response to Trump’s increasingly brazen political manoeuvres.