What to Know
Before JD Vance became Donald Trump’s running mate for the 2024 election, he had his own campaign for the U.S. Senate. Now, a clip has resurfaced from that period of time, and the clip was shared on X (formerly Twitter) to give people a glimpse into how un-serious people were, even then, when it came to Vance.
In the clip, a man approaches Vance while he is speaking to a small crowd. He tells Vance that he wants a refund on his memoir, Hillbilly Elegy. When the guy takes it a step further, though, and tells Vance why he wants a refund, it’s a bit much and security steps in. But for those who aren’t wild about the present day Vance, it’s a moment in time that they can’t stop watching over and over.
The man said he didn’t like the “main character” of JD Vance’s memoir.
This Video Never Gets Old😂
— The Resonance (@Partisan_12) April 15, 2026
A man hands JD Vance a copy of his own book and says: “Hey JD, can I get a refund on this?" pic.twitter.com/ZcZf1CLbMy
The clip shows the man approach Vance with the book in his hand. He says he has a question for Vance, but since he interrupted Vance during his speech, the future VP candidate at the time asks the man if he can finish speaking first. But no, no he cannot. A couple of people politely laugh in the audience and someone actually boos the man.
“I just want to know if I can get a refund,” the man says. “I didn’t like the book very much.” As he is being ushered away from Vance by security, the man calmly says, “It was $16.99. $21 in Canada. Can I have $16.99 plus tax?”
Off to the side, the man talks to the two members of security who led him away from Vance.
“It just wasn’t that good,” he says. “The main character wasn’t very likable.” Mind you, the main character in Vance’s memoir is, well, Vance himself. Obviously, that’s the joke, and it all appears to be a stunt by the man that Vance was not let in on. Now that it has resurfaced, though, people are celebrating how uncomfortable it must have made Vance when it happened.
The video is from JD Vance’s U.S. Senate campaign.
Although the video is a few years old, Vance looks the same and, if the sign behind him didn’t mention the U.S. Senate, you might think it was a more recent clip. He likely didn’t have as many haters at the time as he does now. But apparently, Vance’s unlikability for some is timeless.
“I enjoyed the book as long as I thought he was a fictional character,” someone commented on the X post.
Another user wrote, “Asking for a refund on the book is funny, but the real refund Americans want is on the broken promises.”
Someone else commented on the turnout of people there to hear Vance speak. They commented, “There are about 20 people there…That’s a big turnout!”
A user also defended the man in the video. They wrote, “Honest fan wanted to provide in-person book review.”
The same person trolled Ted Cruz.
@thegoodliars The time we performed an exorcism on Ted Cruz. #texas #prank #tglnyc #gross #weird #funny #funnytiktok #tedcruz #exorcism #snow #fbf ♬ original sound – The Good Liars
The same man who attended the Vance event and trolled him with his book attended a Ted Cruz rally once to do the same to him. It’s clearly a thing for the comedian, and someone shared a video of that interaction on X too. In the video, the man says that Cruz “looks weird.” So weird, in fact, that he runs to a trash can to vomit.
It’s disarming fir other people in the room, especially since everyone is there to support Cruz. The man in the video even looks the part, complete with a Cruz pin or sticker on his shirt. But, like his interaction with Vance, the one at the Cruz event is meant to make a spectacle during an event for a politician. Mission accomplished. So, uh, is this guy going to come back and make some more of these? It might help bring some healing energy to the United States.
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