As the nation mourned its worst aviation disaster in decades, Vice President JD Vance found time to engage in a heated Twitter exchange with British podcaster and former Conservative lawmaker Rory Stewart. The online spat took off as officials scrambled to respond to the midair collision of an American Airlines passenger jet and a military helicopter over Washington, D.C., which is believed to have claimed 67 lives.
The dispute began after Stewart criticized remarks Vance made on Fox News. There, the vice president defended prioritizing love for one’s family, community, and nation before extending concern globally. Vance framed his stance as a “Christian concept,” as he asserted that the far left had “completely inverted” this hierarchy of obligations.
A bizarre take on John 15:12-13 – less Christian and more pagan tribal. We should start worrying when politicians become theologians, assume to speak for Jesus, and tell us in which order to love… https://t.co/rrsivzGdvT
— Rory Stewart (@RoryStewartUK) January 30, 2025
Stewart, co-host of The Rest Is Politics and a former tutor to Princes William and Harry. He took issue with Vance’s interpretation, and called it a “bizarre take” on John 15:12-13. “We should start worrying when politicians become theologians and assume to speak for Jesus,” Stewart wrote, as he dismissed Vance’s claims as “less Christian and more pagan tribal.”
Vance, who converted to Catholicism in 2019 didn’t sit quiet. He fired back with a pointed response: “Just google ‘ordo amoris.’ Aside from that, the idea that there isn’t a hierarchy of obligations violates basic common sense. Does Rory really think his moral duties to his own children are the same as his duties to a stranger thousands of miles away? Does anyone?”
Vance didn’t stop there. The VP took a personal jab at Stewart’s intelligence as he wrote “I’ve said before and I’ll say it again: the problem with Rory and people like him is that he has an IQ of 110 and thinks he has an IQ of 130. This false arrogance drives so much elite failure over the last 40 years.”
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The exchange caught the attention of Stewart’s podcast co-host, Alastair Campbell, former press secretary to British Prime Minister Tony Blair, who remarked that it was “very odd” for the U.S. vice president to be “trolling my podcast partner” while the country was mourning a tragedy.
Stewart later responded to Vance’s insult with sarcasm: “It’s an honor to have my IQ questioned by you, Mr. VP.” But he didn’t let up on his original argument, adding, “Your attempts to speak for Christ are false and dangerous. Nowhere does Jesus suggest that love is to be prioritized in concentric circles. His love is universal.”
While Vance was busy sparring online, he also joined President Donald Trump at a White House press conference. There, Trump controversially linked the aviation disaster to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) hiring practices. Trump did not provide any direct evidence and stated, “Because I have common sense, OK?” and doubled down when he was pressed further, saying, “It just could have been.”
Vance spoke in favor his boss’s stance. He claimed that diversity hiring compromises safety. “When you don’t have the best standards in who you’re hiring, it means you’re not getting the best people in government,” he said. “But on the other hand, it puts stress on the people who are already there.”
