JD Vance is branded insensitive after answering a young woman's housing worry with a joke about a senator's backside

Vice President JD Vance was responding to a young Republican woman's concerns about being priced out of the housing market when he deflected with a crude joke about Senator Jon Husted's backside. The quip drew immediate backlash from critics who questioned his empathy on cost-of-living pressures hitting younger voters hardest.

The woman had raised a genuine economic grievance — that rising house prices were putting homeownership out of reach for her generation.

Online critics reacted with disbelief, with one response summing up the mood: 'How is this real?'