Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Jimmy Fallon lists all the things polling higher than JD Vance: Lice outbreak emails and sun-warmed egg salad

Some Republicans are said to be regretting that JD Vance was chosen as Donald Trump’s running mate

Amelia Neath
Friday 26 July 2024 07:46 EDT
Comments
Jimmy Fallon lists all things polling higher than JD Vance

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Jimmy Fallon has poked fun at JD Vance’s low pollings by reeling off a list of all the things that are more popular than Donald Trump’s chosen running mate – from “lice outbreak emails” to a “sun-warmed egg salad”.

On The Tonight Show Thursday, Fallon said that he “read that Trump’s running mate, JD Vance, has a negative net favorability rating.”

“Yeah, his favorability rating is a negative six. I’m not even sure how that’s possible. But it’s true,” Fallon said.

“Just to give you a sense of how bad that is, here’s a list of things currently polling higher than JD Vance.”

Fallon then listed: “First, there’s sun-warmed egg salad. Next, there is the lice outbreak email from your kid’s school. And, finally, there’s people who use the word “Fri-Yay.”

Trump announced earlier this month that he had chosen the Ohio senator as his vice presidential pick to join him on the Republican ticket in November.

But, since then, Vance has not been doing so well in the polls.

In a poll analysis by CNN, Vance was found to be the first non-incumbent, vice presidential pick since 1980 to have a net-negative rating following a party convention.

Jimmy Fallon poked fun at JD Vance’s low favorability ratings
Jimmy Fallon poked fun at JD Vance’s low favorability ratings (The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon)

CNN’s senior political data reporter Harry Enten stated that Vance is currently “making history in the completely wrong way.”

He explained that since 2000, vice presidential nominees usually, on average, have a net-positive rating immediately after the RNC, at plus 19 points in favorability.

However, Vance has seen his net favorable rating plunge to minus six points after he was declared as Trump’s running mate and joined Trump on the campaign trial.

The Republican vice presidential candidate is also facing backlash for his sexist comments which resurfaced this week of him attacking Kamala Harris and other women as “a bunch of childless cat ladies”.

Some Republicans are reportedly starting to regret Vance being on the party’s ticket after Vice President Kamala Harris replaced Biden as the presumptive nominee for the Democratic party.

One House Republican told Axios that “on the whole,” Vance “doesn’t add much.”

Yet, Trump spokesman Steven Cheung told The Independent: “President Trump is thrilled with the choice he made with Senator Vance, and they are the perfect team to take back the White House. Meanwhile, Democrats are in complete disarray after their coup that forcibly removed Biden from the campaign, proving they are the real threats to democracy.”

Fallon also touched on Biden’s address to the nation from the Oval Office on Wednesday night, where he spoke for the first time about his decision to drop out of the 2024 race.

Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance) speaks during a campaign rally at Middletown High School on July 22, 2024 in Middletown, Ohio. Vance has been polling lower than most vice presidential candidates immediately after the RNC
Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance) speaks during a campaign rally at Middletown High School on July 22, 2024 in Middletown, Ohio. Vance has been polling lower than most vice presidential candidates immediately after the RNC (Getty Images)

The late-night show host said that Biden spoke for around 11 minutes.

But joked that “the only hiccup in the speech was a guy off camera yelling ‘Please get back in the race. Please!’” – referencing Trump.

“I’m a reporter from a – You’ve never met me before! Please,” he quipped.

In reality, Trump was reportedly watching the speech from his private plane after a rally in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Fallon flashed an image on screen posted by The New York Times of Trump watching it from the plane. He then joked that “Trump made it five minutes into the speech before changing the channel to this,” and changed the screen to Love Island USA.

The former president had some very strong remarks in response to Biden’s speech, taking to Truth Social to call it “barely understandable” and “sooo bad!”

In contrast, Fallon said the speech was “very graceful,” before joking that “at the end, Biden surprised everyone by announcing his candidacy for 2028.”

"No. Stop! Stop, please,” Fallon exclaimed.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in