As tensions between the U.S. and China escalate over President Donald Trump’s tariffs, Vice President JD Vance sparked more acrimony with China by referring to its people as “peasants” in a Fox News interview last week.

While defending the administration’s tariffs on the network Thursday, Vance said “the globalist economy” was working against the U.S.

“Fundamentally, it’s based on two principles: incurring a huge amount of debt to buy things that other countries make for us,” he said in the interview. “To make it a little more crystal clear, we borrow money from Chinese peasants to buy the things those Chinese peasants manufacture.”

The VP’s comments have been widely circulated — and ridiculed — on Chinese social platforms, including by some who drew comparisons to Vance’s self-described “hillbilly” upbringing, CNN reported.

Officials in China, a dominant force in global manufacturing and a worldwide leader in technological development, have also hit back. Lin Jian, a spokesperson for China’s foreign ministry, criticized Vance at a news conference in Beijing on Tuesday, saying it was “surprising and sad to hear the vice president say such ignorant and impolite words.”

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Vance is no stranger to gaffes and dismissive remarks about others — who could forget his “childless cat ladies” controversy? Since becoming vice president, he has embraced the role of public provocateur, using social media to mock and troll critics of the administration.

His comment about “Chinese peasants” comes at a particularly delicate time. Trump has threatened to raise tariffs on China by an additional 50% if Beijing does not drop its retaliatory tariffs on the U.S. The Chinese government has remained defiant, calling Trump’s threats “blackmail” and saying it would “fight to the end.”

Economists have widely criticized Trump’s tariff war as potentially kicking off a recession and a threat to the global economy.

On Tuesday, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said it was a “mistake” for China to impose 34% in tariffs on U.S. imports in response to the president’s initial tariff threat. “The president, when America is punched, he punches back harder,” she said. “That’s why there will be 104% tariffs going into effect on China tonight at midnight.”