Vice President JD Vance didn’t hold back when he tore into a New York Times opinion piece on immigration, using sharp wit to expose what he sees as the absurdity of the Biden administration’s border record.
According to New York Post, during a rally in West Pittston, Pennsylvania, on July 16, 2025, Vance mocked the headline of an op-ed by Blas Nuñez-Neto, a former Biden border adviser, while praising the Trump administration’s recent border security successes.
Starting his day in Pennsylvania, Vance took the stage to address a fired-up crowd, zeroing in on the Times piece titled, “I Was One of Biden’s Border Advisers. Here’s How to Fix Our Immigration System.” The headline alone drew laughter from attendees as Vance read it aloud, setting the tone for a pointed critique of past policies.
Never one to miss a chance for humor, Vance revealed that he and his team crafted spoof headlines to jab at the op-ed. “So we’ve been having a little fun around the office,” he quipped, before sharing a gem from the Department of Homeland Security: a mock title comparing the adviser’s piece to Humpty Dumpty giving wall-sitting tips.
He didn’t stop there, citing a friend’s zinger: a Cincinnati Bengals player claiming to know how to win Super Bowls. Vance admitted that one “cut a little deep,” but it landed with the crowd as a perfect jab at the idea of a failed adviser offering solutions.
“What would he know about fixing our immigration system?” Vance asked, driving home his point that the Biden era left the border in chaos. It’s hard to argue with that logic when the very people who oversaw a mess now claim to have the blueprint for repair.
Vance pivoted to the real reason for his Pennsylvania stop: celebrating the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, signed into law by President Trump on July 4, 2025. This landmark legislation pumped tens of billions into border security, a move Vance hailed as Trump’s signature achievement of the year.
The results speak for themselves, with US Customs and Border Protection reporting a staggering drop in southwest border encounters, down to 9,306 in June 2025 from a peak of over 300,000 in December 2023. That’s a near 97% reduction, a figure that undercuts any progressive narrative about border management.
Even Nuñez-Neto admitted in his piece that the border was a “crisis” under Biden, though he noted it’s become more “quiet” now. That’s a backhanded compliment if there ever was one—acknowledging improvement only after a change in leadership.
Vance also spotlighted other wins in the bill, like a policy exempting overtime pay from federal taxes. “You earned that money, you ought to keep it in your pocket,” he declared, a line that resonates with hardworking Americans tired of overreach from Washington.
He defended Trump’s tariff stance with equal vigor, explaining it’s about rewarding American manufacturing. “If you’re going to build something overseas, you’re going to pay a big fat tariff before you bring it back,” Vance said, framing it as common-sense protection for domestic jobs.
Contrast that with Nuñez-Neto’s lament that the system favors asylum claimants over legal pathways for workers. It’s a fair critique of a broken framework, but coming from a Biden insider, it feels more like an excuse than a solution.
Before wrapping up his day, Vance and Second Lady Usha Vance made a surprise stop at the Majestic Lunch diner in Pittston. It’s the kind of grassroots gesture that shows they’re not just preaching policy from a podium but connecting with everyday folks.
From mocking misguided op-eds to touting transformative legislation, Vance’s Pennsylvania visit painted a clear picture: the Trump administration is delivering where others faltered. While critics from the previous era write essays on “fixing” things, the current team is already getting it done with hard numbers to back it up.
