Vice President JD Vance gleefully ridiculed the New York Times over a Wednesday opinion piece penned by an ex-Biden administration official — who pitched a plan to fix the US immigration system.
Vance read the headline of the op-ed, “I Was One of Biden’s Border Advisers. Here’s How to Fix Our Immigration System,” while delivering remarks in West Pittston, Pa., drawing laughter from the crowd.
“What would he know about fixing our immigration system? It was the Biden administration that broke our immigration system,” Vance said with a grin. “So we’ve been having a little fun around the office.”
Vice President JD Vance ripped the New York Times for a recent opinion piece titled, “I Was One of Biden’s Border Advisers. Here’s How to Fix Our Immigration System.” AFP via Getty ImagesThe vice president then read off a few spoof headlines submitted by administration colleagues.
“The Department of Homeland Security — their take on this was ‘I was Humpty Dumpty. Here’s how to sit on a wall,’” he mused.
“This is what a buddy of mine sent me, he said, ‘I am a Cincinnati Bengals player, here’s how you win Super Bowls.’ That cut a little deep,” the Ohio-born vice president continued.
Vance had been in Pennsylvania to tout some of the accomplishments of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which President Trump signed into law July 4 and included tens of billions of dollars in new funding for border security.
Even before the marquee bill cleared the Senate, the Trump administration oversaw a steep dip in border encounters, with 9,306 reported at the southwest land border in June, down from a peak of 301,981 in December 2023, according to data from US Customs and Border Protection — a nearly 97% reduction.
The New York Times piece Vance lampooned had been penned by Blas Nuñez-Neto, an assistant secretary for border and immigration policy. Nuñez-Neto conceded that the border situation under the Biden administration was a “crisis” that has since gotten more “quiet” under Trump.
The VP offered spoofs on the headline, including, “I was Humpty Dumpty. Here’s how to sit on a wall.”
“We have ended up with a system that is generous to those who cross the border and claim asylum and is frequently stingy with those who try to use appropriate legal pathways to come here to work,” Nuñez-Neto admitted about the dynamic.
Several netizens picked up on the DHS mockery of the headline on Nuñez-Neto’s piece.
“I was the captain of the Titanic. Here’s how you steer an ocean liner across the North Atlantic at night,” one user joked.
“I was one of Kamala’s campaign advisers. Here’s how to win the presidential election,” another said.
Vice President JD Vance and second lady Usha Vance (left) greet patrons during a surprise stop at the Majestic Lunch diner in Pittston, Pa., Wednesday. July 16, 2025. APVance also used the rally to spotlight other aspects of the marquee bill, which was intended to be Trump’s signature legislative achievement of the year.
“Thanks to President Trump’s leadership, if you work overtime, the federal government is not going to take a dime of that overtime. You earned that money, you ought to keep it in your pocket,” Vance proclaimed.
The vice president also tore into Democrats’ critique of Trump’s signature tariff policy, which he contended would be a boon for manufacturing.
“Their big line of attack is that Donald Trump dares to put tariffs on foreign countries who try to bring their crap into the United States of America,” Vance acknowledged.
“If you’re going to build something in the United States of America, we’re going to reward you and we’re going to fight for you, but if you want to build something overseas, you’re going to pay a big fat tariff before you bring it back into the United States and that’s exactly how it should be.”
