JD Vance Unloads On Longtime MSNBC Host In Savage Clapback: ‘Hope This Helps’

Vice President JD Vance did not hold back after MSNBC’s Mehdi Hasan attempted to call him out over the Trump administration’s decision to limit The Associated Press’ access to the White House press pool. In a no-nonsense response, Vance dismissed Hasan’s criticism, delivering a brutal reality check.

The exchange began when Hasan, a longtime left-wing commentator, took to social media to target Vance, writing, “Hey @JDVance, I know you’re busy lecturing the Europeans on free speech, but have you seen this?”

The post referenced a recent Axios report detailing President Trump’s decision to restrict AP reporters’ access, citing what the administration views as years of partisan bias in the AP Stylebook. But Vance was in no mood for Hasan’s theatrics.

His response was as blunt as it was devastating. “Yes dummy,” Vance shot back.

“I think there’s a difference between not giving a reporter a seat in the WH press briefing room and jailing people for dissenting views. The latter is a threat to free speech, the former is not. Hope that helps!”

The dust-up comes amid the feud between the Trump administration and the Associated Press, a wire service that conservatives argue has long pushed a left-wing narrative under the guise of neutrality. The controversy escalated after AP refused to recognize Trump’s executive order renaming the “Gulf of Mexico” to the “Gulf of America,” insisting on using the name that has been in place for centuries.

For the Trump White House, the AP’s defiance was the last straw in what they see as a long-running pattern of bias. White House Deputy Chief of Staff Taylor Budowich called out AP’s selective adherence to government directives, pointing out that the organization had no problem recognizing the federal renaming of Alaska’s Mount McKinley back to its original name, Denali, under the Obama administration.

“This isn’t just about the Gulf of America,” Budowich told Axios. “This is about AP weaponizing language through their stylebook to push a partisan worldview in contrast with the traditional and deeply held beliefs of many Americans and many people around the world.”

AP, unsurprisingly, rejected the accusations. A spokesperson defended the organization, saying, “AP is a global, fact-based, nonpartisan news organization… If AP journalism wasn’t factual and nonpartisan, this wouldn’t be the case.”

Vance’s response to Hasan adds to the conservative argument that the mainstream media, particularly outlets like MSNBC and AP, are not being censored—they’re simply being held accountable. Hasan’s attempt to equate limiting AP’s White House access with attacks on press freedom was quickly dismantled by Vance’s point that true oppression exists in authoritarian regimes where dissenters are jailed, not in a country where media access decisions are made at the White House’s discretion.

Last week the vice president delivered a fiery speech to European leaders at the Munich Security Conference, calling them out for their increasing censorship and disdain for voters’ concerns. His remarks, particularly his critique of Europe’s crackdown on free speech, triggered a stir in the room.

“To many of us on the other side of the Atlantic, it looks more and more like old entrenched interests hiding behind ugly Soviet-era words like misinformation and disinformation, who simply don’t like the idea that somebody with an alternative viewpoint might express a different opinion or, God forbid, vote a different way, or even worse, win an election,” Vance told European leaders.