Vice President JD Vance reiterated Donald Trump’s concerns about crime in Washington, D.C.—but may have insulted cabinet member Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in the process.
Vance, on the heels of Trump’s latest argument for the federal takeover of the capital, said the district has “some of the worst homicide rates in the world.” The vice president attached a graphic appearing to show 2023’s statistics of 41 homicides for every 100,000 people.
“If this fact doesn’t anger you but President Trump’s efforts to fix it do, you might have a brain worm,” Vance added.
One person who does have a brain worm is Health and Human Services Secretary Kennedy, who said in a 2012 deposition that doctors had told him two years prior that a dark spot showing up on a brain scan was the result of a dead parasite, which had eaten a portion of his brain. Kennedy said he doesn’t know for sure how or where he had contracted it, but that it could have been during a visit to Southeast Asia.
Vance’s choice of words wasn’t lost on some X users, who wondered if there was any intent behind them.
“Sir, did you just intentionally or unwittingly make a dig at RFK, Jr?” one user asked.
Vance’s office did not immediately return a request for comment from the Daily Beast. Neither did Kennedy’s.
As for homicides in Washington, D.C., more recent data from the Metropolitan Police Department shows a positive trend. While 2023 ended with 274 homicides, last year there were 187—a reduction of 32 percent. And while there had been 112 homicides by Aug. 7 of 2024, there have been 99 as of Thursday.
President Trump has cited crime as a main factor in his proposals to take over the city, in particular the alleged beating this week of former DOGE engineer Edward Coristine.
“What a shame, the rate of crime, the rate of muggings, killings and everything else,” Trump said at a Wednesday press conference.
“This has to be the best-run place in the country, not the worst-run place in the country, and it has so much potential and we’re going to take care of it,” he added. “You’re going to be safe. You’re going to be safe walking down streets. You’re not going to get mugged.”
