WATCH: Trump Calls In To JD Vance’s Live Town Hall, Asks Hilarious Question

Former President Donald Trump played a prank on his running mate Thursday night, calling into a NewsNation town hall to ask his own question of Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH) that got a raucous response from the audience of undecided voters.

Moderator Chris Cuomo compared the former President to Beetlejuice in the lead-in. “If you invoke the former president’s name too many times, he’s gonna want to weigh in,” he joked as Vance laughed nervously and the audience applauded. After a brief delay, Trump announced he had “quite an interesting” question for the Ohio Republican. “The answer should be easy,” he said.

(VOTE: Should JD Vance Run For President In 2028?)

“How brilliant is Donald J. Trump?” he asked. Vance nearly doubled over in laughter, as did most of the audience, though a few sat stone-faced, hands clasped. “Take your time,” Cuomo quipped. “Well first of all, sir, this is supposed to be undecided voters,” Vance began. “I would hope that I have your vote of all people. First of all, sir, of course you’re very brilliant and we both agree that it’s important to have very smart people running our government.”

He continued with a story of Trump’s humility. “Here’s the thing about President Trump that, a side of you sir if you’ll forgive me for telling this story and I think people don’t see… One of my favorite moments with President Trump is we were hosting an event forum near our home in Cincinnati a few months ago. And of course my wife is a little bit nervous to talk to the President of the United States, and he asked her, ‘What do you think about your husband being in public service?’ And she gives, if you know my wife, a very diplomatic answer. ‘Sir he really cares about the people of Ohio, he’s really thrilled to be able to serve them. Happy to support him however I can.’ And President Trump chuckles and says, ‘Yeah, my wife hates it too.'” For his story, Vance got an appreciative smile from his wife Usha seated in the back row.

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Upon his selection, many in the media found Vance and Trump a politically odd couple, a characterization both quickly dispelled with public bonhomie during events. Critics tried to use Vance’s words as a younger man against him when he disparaged Trump, statements which he blamed on naiveté and a worldview not fully developed yet. Upon his election to the U.S. Senate in 2022, the first-term senator quickly carved a role out for himself as an America First populist, railing against Democrats’ aggressive spending on the war in Ukraine and garnering appreciation from President Trump for his steadfast defense of his third bid for the White House.

The two have been simpatico ever since. While President Trump trains his focus on Vice President Kamala Harris, Sen. Vance has served as a formidable attack dog against her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz. During last month’s only vice presidential debate, Vance ran verbal circles around the Democrat, giving thoughtful answers on everything from government spending to national abortion laws. Walz was widely panned for being ill-prepared for his first foray onto the national stage.

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