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JD Vance has now been accused of committing a “crime against humanity” after he stopped by a famed Philadelphia cheesesteak joint and asked why they don’t have Swiss cheese.
The Republican vice presidential candidate cracked the joke at Pat’s King of Steaks during a campaign stop on Monday, having worked up an appetite by making a speech at a waste management facility.
“I don’t like Swiss cheese either, but everybody says it’s insulting,” Vance asked at the Pat’s register, according to The Daily Beast.
“Why do you guys hate Swiss cheese so much?”
Founded by two brothers in 1930, Pat’s credits itself as the “originator and inventor of the steak and cheesesteak sandwich,” and serves its sandwiches with only American, provolone or cheez whiz.
“We don’t hate it, we just don’t use it. We usually use cheez whiz,” responded the employee taking Vance’s order.
Vance appears to have been intentionally making reference to the notorious faux pas made by John Kerry during his 2004 presidential campaign, when he asked for a cheesesteak sandwich with Swiss cheese during a visit to Pat’s.
Kerry went on to lose the election to George W Bush, getting 48.3 per cent of votes.
While Pat’s manager, Sammy Garcia, brushed off the quip, saying the team “thought it was funny” to the Philadelphia Inquirer, Democrats, anti Trump-Vance Republicans and social media users dragged Vance for the gag.
“Today, in my beloved city of Philadelphia,” Democrat Philadelphia representative Brendan Boyle posted on X.
“JD Vance committed a crime against humanity,” he added, along with the hashtag #WorstVPpick.
Meanwhile, Republicans against Trump simply but damningly wrote: “Trump just lost Pennsylvania.”
“He sunk his battleship,” another person chimed in.
“He’s weirder than we thought,” added another, playing off the line first coined by Tim Walz that Republicans are “weird”.
The cheesesteak saga comes as Donald Trump and his running mate are fielding several controversial comments and bizarre moments as they ramp up their campaign for the White House.
One day earlier, Vance raised eyebrows when he likened Vice President Kamala Harris to late pedophile Jeffrey Epsteinin a wild interview on Fox News Sunday.
“Giving Kamala Harris control over inflation policy, it’s like giving Jeffrey Epstein control over human trafficking policy,” Vance told host Shannon Bream – before launching into claims that polls showing him and Trump trailing Harris are “fake.”
This comes after he continues to face backlash for his comments about women.
In a Fox News interview in 2021, which has resurfaced since he was tapped as Trump’s running mate, Vance claimed that the US was being run by “a bunch of childless cat ladies who are miserable at their own lives.”
The comments – directed at Harris and other Democrats – prompted outrage with the ex-wife of Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff and Hollywood star Jennifer Aniston weighing on the matter.
Vance then came under further fire when an unearthed 2020 podcast also came to light, revealing the Ohio senator agreeing with the notion that raising grandchildren was “the whole purpose of the postmenopausal female.”
Republicans are said to be mulling whether Vance may have been a bad running mate choice for Trump, with polls now showing he is the least popular vice presidential candidate in modern history.
Overall, national polls have shown that Harris pulling away from Trump on a 2.5 point lead, going into the Democratic National Convention in Chicago this week.
The convention got under way on Monday night, with President Joe Biden passing the Democratic party’s torch to Harris.
“Are you ready to vote for freedom?” he asked the crowd. “Are you ready to vote for democracy and for America? Let me ask you, are you ready to elect Kamala Harris and Tim Walz?”
