Images of Trump supporters waving “You’re Fired” signs as JD Vance spoke has been shared online and gone viral.
The incident occurred during a rally for Donald Trump in Atlanta, Georgia, on Saturday. Members of the crowd were holding signs that read, “Lyin’ Kamala you’re fired!” but the first two words were in a lighter color and a smaller font, making them less visible from a distance.
The signs are a reference to Trump’s catchphrase while on “The Apprentice.” Vance also recently said Kamala Harris, currently vice president, should be “fired” and replaced with Trump, although it’s not clear what he meant.
The crowd was likely holding the signs in support of Vance. One clip, viewed 2 million times on X, formerly Twitter, shows a man raising his sign as Vance discussed Harris.
“Hillary Clinton called us deplorables, and now Kamala Harris says we’re weird. Well Kamala, let’s talk about some things that are weird,” Vance said as the man pointed his sign at his head.
Producer and screenwriter Bill Hanstock posted an image of the moment on X, formerly Twiter, commenting, “Handing out YOU’RE FIRED signs to people standing behind vance is a democrat-level unforced error.” The post received more than 3.5 million views.
Many anti-Trump viewers seemed amused by the visual and the implication that Trump supporters appeared to inadvertently imply Vance should be fired.
It comes after weeks of doubt over the Ohio senator’s suitability as Trump’s running mate. Not long after he was announced, old controversial comments resurfaced around women and abortion rights and some speculated that he could hurt Trump’s chances of winning the election.
Still, Trump’s spokesperson, Steven Cheung, said the former president was “thrilled with the choice he made with Senator Vance, and they are the perfect team to take back the White House.”
Vance has been contacted for comment by Newsweek.
When Trump selected Vance as his VP, it was thought to be an effort to court evangelical Christian voters and energize white, working-class voters, who had helped Trump secure his victory in 2016. This was due to the attention he grabbed after publishing his book “Hillbilly Elegy,” which detailed his blue-collar upbringing.
While describing growing up in Middletown in his book, Vance describes poverty as a “family tradition” for many people and that substance use problems and domestic violence were commonplace, meaning hopes for a better economic future were in short supply – situating him as an “everyday man,” with some saying the book “captures life perfectly.”
Vance’s ratings coming out of a convention were the lowest recorded since 1980 at -6 net in polling ratings, matching CNN‘s senior political data reporter Harry Enten’s comment that Vance is “historically unpopular” as a running mate.
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