Vice President JD Vance created a stir and faced backlash after sharing on social media that President Donald Trump has done more to help Black Americans than any other leader in U.S. history, while tagging New York Times columnist Jamelle Bouie in his post.
Vance made his comments on June 29, 2025, asserting on X that leaders and advocates of the Black Lives Matter movement should join him in applauding Trump. His post was linked to an earlier message on Bluesky where he discussed Trump’s involvement in mediating a peace agreement between the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwanda.
The Vice President has become an active presence on Bluesky, where he has just 14,000 followers, compared to his 4.4 million on X. Recently, he has spent time engaging with the platform’s more progressive users, including congratulating Zohran Mamdani on his victory in the New York City mayoral Democratic primary. Many observers believe Vance primarily joined Bluesky to provoke reactions from Democrats.
Vance characterized the Congo-Rwanda treaty as a genuinely historic achievement, a view echoed by politicians from both major parties. Still, not everyone agrees that Trump played the primary role in securing the agreement, and there remain concerns that the ongoing conflict might not fully resolve. If the ceasefire holds, experts say it could save tens of thousands of African lives and allow millions of displaced people to return home.
The reaction on Bluesky was swift and overwhelmingly negative. Users quickly disputed Vance’s portrayal of Trump’s track record, with one commenter labeling his claim as blatant misinformation. While noting that acknowledging a minor success could be justified, users insisted that exaggerating Trump’s achievements would not be tolerated on the platform. Another critic highlighted that chaos sparked by the Department of Government Efficiency earlier in the current administration had caused deaths in the developing world, specifically impacting infants due to USAID funding cuts.
Vance’s latest statement continues a trend of inflammatory comments throughout his political career. As an Ohio senator, he previously made remarks about suburban women and reproductive rights that earned sharp criticism. In August 2024, he told Fox News he didn’t think it was typical for suburban women to be concerned about their reproductive rights, suggesting instead that they should focus on what he called common issues shared by most Americans.
Vance has also drawn rebuke for previous comments about people without children, particularly referring to so-called childless cat ladies whom he claimed were unhappy in their lives. These remarks resurfaced during the 2024 election season and became one of his most controversial statements. Although he has since attempted to temper these views, he still maintains that childless Americans have a smaller stake in the country’s future.
The Vice President’s record of provocative remarks also includes his stance on voting rights, having proposed that parents should be granted extra votes in elections. He has argued that people without children should be penalized, as he claims they are less invested in the nation’s future. These opinions have been widely criticized by educators and family advocacy organizations.
Vance’s online activity seems to form part of a larger approach aimed at keeping himself in the spotlight and drawing reactions from political opponents. His posts on Bluesky are often described as trolling, with the platform’s user base largely rejecting his views. The noticeable difference between his following on various platforms highlights how divided and partisan social media engagement has become in today’s political landscape.
The assertion that Trump has done more than anyone else to save Black lives stands out as one of Vance’s most pointed efforts to reshape perceptions of the previous administration’s record on race. Detractors argue that comments like this appear intended more to provoke outrage than to foster meaningful policy debate. The decision to directly tag a prominent Black journalist in the post was seen by some as especially provocative, given the nature and context of the claims being made.