If Sunday morning’s interview between Vice President J.D. Vance and ABC’s George Stephanopoulos was supposed to be a routine political Q&A, it quickly became anything but. In fact, what unfolded was a masterclass in deflection—but not from Vance. The real dodging came from Stephanopoulos, who spent nearly the entire segment trying to corner the Vice President with a media-circulated accusation that’s already been widely discredited.
.@VP nukes George Slopidopolous for obsessing over made-up Fake News BS while not asking a single question about the Democrat Shutdown: “Here’s, George, why fewer and fewer people watch your program…”
George gets big mad, cuts @VP off, and goes to commercial 🤣 pic.twitter.com/VVm2FV5ujd
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) October 12, 2025
The topic? A supposed FBI surveillance tape from September 2024, where former ICE Director and current White House border czar Tom Homan was allegedly recorded accepting $50,000 in cash. An explosive claim—if it were true. But the story, fueled by unnamed sources and aired primarily by MSNBC, hasn’t resulted in any charges, no further reporting, and no official confirmation of wrongdoing. It’s a ghost story in a trench coat—one the Biden-era DOJ already closed without action.
But that didn’t stop Stephanopoulos.
He kicked off the interview not with questions about the border crisis, the economy, or the ongoing government shutdown—but with an inquisition on Homan’s supposed bribe:
“Did he keep that money or give it back?”
Vice President Vance wasn’t having it. His response was immediate and unflinching:
“Tom Homan did not take a bribe. It’s a ridiculous smear… The reason you guys are going after Tom Homan is because he’s doing the job of enforcing the law.”
He went further, pointing out the real scandal: the relentless harassment and death threats Homan receives for doing what the American people expect—enforcing immigration laws. That, Vance argued, should be the story. But instead, the national press is spinning tales about an audio tape no one has seen, no court has validated, and no charges have resulted from.
Stephanopoulos, undeterred, pressed the same question again and again, like a broken record with an agenda:
“So you’re saying you don’t know whether he kept the money?”
“What was caught on the tape…?”
“Are you saying he didn’t accept the $50,000?”
Vance responded with what might become one of the defining quotes of this administration’s media relations strategy:
“Here’s why fewer and fewer people watch your program, and why you’re losing credibility… You’re insinuating criminal wrongdoing against a guy who has done nothing wrong instead of focusing on the fact that our country is struggling.”
He’s not wrong. At a moment when the country faces a Democrat-driven government shutdown, food assistance programs are grinding to a halt, and military families are unsure when their next paycheck will come—ABC chose to devote precious interview minutes to a speculative hit piece.
And when Vance pointed that out? The interview was abruptly cut short.
This wasn’t journalism—it was narrative theater. A desperate attempt to distract from a mounting crisis at the southern border by dragging a decorated law enforcement official through the mud, with zero evidence of wrongdoing. The White House, for its part, has already clarified: Homan was never charged, never kept money, and never violated any laws.
