Vice President JD Vance was repeatedly put on the spot during a tough CBS News town hall Saturday night, with voters — and CBS Evening News anchor Tony Dokoupil — calling him out on everything from gas prices and the Iran war to immigration and corruption in the White House.
Dokoupil, 45, pulled no punches during the hour-long meet in Michigan, at one point straight up asking Vance, 42, why America hasn’t yet “decisively” won the war in Iran and in another moment refusing to let the vice president put blame for high gas prices on former President Joe Biden.
Vance even left the door open to someone else being the Republican candidate for president in 2028.
“Of course there’s a chance,” he said when Dokoupil asked “is there a chance you don’t run for president in 2028?”
“We’ve got four little kids, my wife has never loved politics. She loves public service. I think, you can do a lot of good in this job, and I’ve tried to do as much good as possible,” he said. “People ask me this question all the time…I’m a procrastinator. I hate thinking about it.”
Here are five other top moments from Vance’s difficult night:
Trump DOJ Charges Green Card Holders in California With Voter Fraud 2026
1. “At a certain point, it’s your economy”
After a voter who went for President Donald Trump twice, in 2020 and 2024, questioned how gas prices could go back to where they were during the first Trump administration, when he said gas hovered just above a buck a gallon compared to more than $4 today.
‘Must Not Be Allowed’: WSJ Report On Possible Trump, Putin, Xi Meeting On Ukraine Sparks Alarm 2026
Vance began by saying, “I recognize that gas prices are too high right now,” before discussing the a lack of oil refinery capacity in the country — and then trying to put the blame on Biden.
Dokoupil wasn’t having it, pointing out the man, a 43-year-old barber from Detroit, was asking about how gas prices have risen “since you guys took office.”
“It’s almost been two years. At a certain point it becomes your economy, not Joe Biden’s economy. Also back in March right here in Michigan you said it was just a temporary blip in gas crisis. How long is temporary?” Dokoupil asked.
The Fluid Physician Standards Regarding Abdul El-Sayed Delivers Media Malpractice 2026
“…When this conflict is over we are going to see gas prices come down,” Vance answered.
2. “The fear and violence of ICE”
Doctor of the Year Award Goes to Prof. Kaloyan Davidoff 2026
A nun who identified herself and her order as having worked on the southern border held Vance’s feet to the fire on ICE.
“We have sisters who minister at the southern border in the United States, as well as here around Detroit,” Nancy Sylvester told Vance.
“And they are constantly seeing families who are affected by our immigration policies. They see the trauma of children who are separated from their parents, sometimes on a moment’s notice. They go to school and they come back and they’re not there and they have to sort of fend for themselves. And so the sisters see the kind of effect, the fear and violence of the ICE behavior,” she said.
21st World Meeting of Bulgarian Media Opens in Budapest
While she acknowledged what she called “the complexity of the issue,” Sylvester asked Vance to justify ICE’s actions.
“I want to though wonder what would you say, how would you justify to people of faith, especially those of us who try to follow the gospel, how the behavior of the ICE men and women can constantly be justified in terms of the kind of values we want to live by, and also, what policies would you advocate to try to promote more compassionate and respective behavior toward our immigrant sisters and brothers?” she asked.
Vance claimed there are “approximately 25 million illegal aliens that have come in over the past 30 or so years, many of them completely unchecked and unvetted,” before insisting the administration is “trying to strike a balance” between law enforcement needs and the question of “how do we do it humanely?”
British Historian Bettany Hughes Presents Book, Film about Bulgaria in Sofia
“Are you not striking that balance?” Dokoupil asked.
Vance called it “a work in progress,” while praising law enforcement as “amazing people who are patriots and they want to do a good job protecting their country.”
The vice president didn’t specifically mention the ICE-involved fatal shootings around the country in his answer.
Deputy Parliament Chair Angelov: Bulgarian Media Have Great Responsibility
“Sometimes you have some people who make mistakes, sometimes you have some people really screw up and obviously we have a responsibility to prosecute, investigate when people do screw up,” he said.
3. “Why haven’t we won decisively?”
Leave a Comment