Vice President JD Vance jumped into an online debate over burrito prices on Wednesday and told conservative columnist Marc Thiessen he’d never missed a burrito.
The exchange began when right-wing commentator Matt Walsh said high grocery prices were becoming a vulnerability for President Donald Trump, and Turning Point USA personality Andrew Kolvet provided evidence from a college student who said a burrito shouldn’t cost $20.
Thiessen, a former George W. Bush speechwriter who has criticized Vance for his leadership in Trump’s Iran peace talks, dismissed the post on X despite it making no mention of Vance.
“Cry me a river,” Thiessen wrote on Wednesday. “The burritos in the college cafeteria are included in your meal plan.”
Vance then inserted himself into the thread even though the exchange did not mention him.
“I’m surprised to hear Mark say this,” Vance wrote, misspelling Thiessen’s first name. “If you’ve ever met him in person, it’s quite obvious the man has never missed a burrito.”
Former Republican and social media influencer Aaron Parnas replied: “JD Vance saw Trump supporters struggling with grocery prices and said, ‘Have we tried calling them fat?'”
Vance’s response received criticism from Democrats, including former Barack Obama speechwriter Jon Favreau, who wrote: “Welcome back to s—posting, sir! Don’t listen to [White House chief of staff] Susie Wiles – keep Twitter on your phone!”
Liberal commentator Ed Krassenstein wrote: “The Vice President is making fat jokes. That’s how far America has fallen.”
Journalist Mehdi Hasan weighed in: “Just the vice-president of the US fat-shaming a prominent supporter of the president of the US who the president loves.”
X account Typos of the New York Times corrected Vance’s spelling with “*Marc.”
While Thiessen has yet to address Vance’s dig at him, he has doubled down on his burrito position online, firing off several angry posts lashing out at critics of his original burrito commentary.
Meanwhile, the Trump campaign took a different approach.
The Trump campaign account later amplified Vance’s post, calling it a “banger.”
Vance, who somewhat toned down his social media trolling since becoming vice president, replied to a post from Thiessen commenting on the price of burritos.
In the viral moment that sparked the exchange, Kolvet shared what he described as feedback from a Turning Point USA college student about rising food costs.
“One of our TPUSA college students gave me his take on affordability: ‘A burrito shouldn’t cost $20,'” Kolvet posted, along with a complaint about Biden-era COVID-19 policies.
Thiessen responded to this anecdotal evidence by suggesting college students already had access to meals through their campus meal plans and should not be spending money eating out.
Thiessen omitted that many college students do not use meal plan options provided by their schools.
That critique then attracted Vance’s attention and led to his burrito jab.
The real bad blood between Thiessen and Vance appears to be retaliation for a swipe Thiessen made at Vance last week. In an op-ed published in the Washington Post, Thiessen assessed that Vance, who has long been opposed to the U.S. military intervention in the Middle East, is actively undermining his boss’s position on Iran. “Vance continues to publicly contradict the president’s positions,” he wrote, adding, “Perhaps it’s time for the president to take the advice of those who have delivered him success in Iran—not those like Vance who have failed him.”
That context made Vance’s burrito jab look less like a casual joke and more like retaliation against a conservative critic inside Trump’s own camp. The episode also fits a broader pattern inside Trump’s orbit, where weight has become a recurring target.
Trump has repeatedly mentioned a “seriously overweight” friend who takes what he calls “the fat shot.” Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth has also attacked “fat troops” and “fat generals and admirals,” calling them unacceptable.
Trump himself recently praised Vance’s slimmer appearance. “He’s lost weight. He got a little thinner,” Trump said in April. “I’m looking for a heavy-set gentleman, and now I find a perfect-looking specimen.”
Vance’s post has gone viral and has 2.2 million views at this writing.