Partway through JD Vance’s latest Fox News interview, the vice president told host Sean Hannity that there are “different models” for economic growth. To hear the Ohio Republican tell it, Democrats believe the key to prosperity is importing “more and more low-wage servants” from other countries.
Even for Vance, this was absurd. This obviously isn’t the Democratic agenda, and the idea that immigrants looking for a better life deserve to be derided as “servants” is needlessly insulting.
For that matter, given the Trump administration’s eagerness to bring in foreign workers to fill positions across the president’s assorted properties, the vice president’s argument isn’t likely to do Donald Trump any favors.
But as part of the same on-air appearance, Vance added a related thought as part of his broader anti-immigrant pitch.
JD Vance: "A lot of young people are saying housing is way too expensive. Why is that? Because we flooded the country with 30 million illegal immigrants who were taking houses that ought by right go to American citizens."
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) 2025-11-13T21:44:29.950Z
“A lot of young people are saying housing is way too expensive,” the vice president said. “Why is that? Because we flooded the country with 30 million illegal immigrants who were taking houses that ought, by right, go to American citizens.”
At this point, we could talk about the fact that Vance’s “30 million illegal immigrants” claim is demonstrably silly, as he really ought to know. We could also note how outrageous it is to see the Ohioan routinely try to blame every societal challenge on those born outside the United States.
For that matter, it’s tempting to remind readers that the Republican administration’s mass-deportation agenda is actually counterproductive: Removing those who help build houses from the country necessarily slows residential construction and makes the underlying concern worse, not better. But even if we put all of these relevant considerations aside, I’m stuck on the disconnect between Vance’s first point and his second. The American public is apparently supposed to believe that millions of struggling, low-income immigrants are entering the United States and becoming “servants.” We’re apparently also supposed to believe that these same immigrants are somehow qualifying for mortgages and buying up excessive amounts of American real estate, driving up home prices. I’m mindful of the fact that the White House is struggling with affordability — to the point that Team Trump is rallying behind 50-year mortgages — but Vance might want to workshop his talking points a bit more.
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."
Latest Post
Recommended
