SHAMELESS: Vance focuses on fraud with especially bad timing for Trump

The Briefing with Jen Psaki

MS NOW, Jen Psaki

Politics, News, Ms Now, Versant Media, Versant

4.4 • 975 Ratings

🗓️ 14 May 2026

⏱️ 41 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Jen Psaki looks at the political convenience of JD Vance's new anti-fraud talking points as he struggles to demonstrate some relevance while the rest of the Trump administration goes to China. But too much attention on fraud is a particularly awkward thing for Trump, who is trying to find a way to force the IRS to give him billions of taxpayer dollars, and while he his own son, Eric, with business interests in China, has joined him in traveling to Beijing.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Today, as Donald Trump in a whole gaggle of his top aides arrived in China to meet with
0:05.8	Chinese President Xi Jinping, Vice President J.D. Vance went out of his way to make sure everybody
0:12.1	knew he was not forgotten and left behind at home.
0:16.8	So as you know, the president just landed in China a few hours ago.
0:27.9	I always, you know, you may know that because of Secret Service protocols that I don't travel outside of the country with the President of the United States.
0:31.9	So on days today, I sometimes feel like McCauley Calkin and home alone.
0:35.1	I walk into the White House and it's very quiet and no one's there.
0:37.5	And it takes me a second to realize exactly what's going on.
0:42.9	Do you a little nervous there about proving your relevance, buddy?
0:44.5	It was a lot of explaining.
0:49.1	Now, of course, all of that verbal tap dancing from Vance comes as Trump is pitting J.D. Vance and Secretary of State Marker Ruby against one another. Asking crowds at the White House, who likes J.D. Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubia against one another. Asking crowds at the White
0:56.1	House, who likes J.D. Vance and who likes Marco Rubio? Engaging their popularity via the volume of
1:02.6	applause. Yes, that is happening, everyone. So while Rubio was on his big trip with the boss to China,
1:08.9	hanging out on Air Force One in a sweatsuit that he thinks
1:11.8	looks super-duper cool, Jady Vance is desperately trying to remind Dad, he's still his most
1:18.1	special boy. He's still doing his homework even though dad's away on his big work trip,
1:23.4	and he's going to tell you all about it. So today, with tons of pomp and circumstance,
1:29.6	J.D. Vance announced that the Trump administration is suspending $1.3 billion of Medicaid payments
1:35.2	to the state of California cuts that the California Attorney General said will impact vital programs
1:40.9	that help seniors and people with disabilities remain safely in their homes.
1:45.6	And today, J.D. Vance, gleefully, glieffully, announced that the Trump administration was cutting
1:51.0	more than a billion dollars of funding for stuff like that, specifically from California.
	...

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