Vice President J.D. Vance’s first trip to Iowa in his current role on Tuesday turned awkward when he visibly lost his place during prepared remarks at a manufacturing facility, asking for help from GOP Rep. Zach Nunn and drawing a wave of viral mockery online.
While campaigning for Nunn in Des Moines, Vance fumbled through his script for roughly 30 seconds. “When I see Iowa farmers who need to get that E15 to market…What is uh this? What is uh, Zach you’re gonna have to help me out with her name here, I lost my page here,” Vance said from the lectern as he rifled through papers and supporters stood behind him holding “Made in America” signs. He eventually landed on the name of state Sen. Sarah Trone Garriott and said, “I’m on the wrong page here.”
Clips of the brief gaffe spread quickly across social media, accumulating hundreds of thousands of views and prompting a torrent of reactions. Some commentators ridiculed the stumble — one X user quipped that Vance was “on the wrong page every second of every day,” while another suggested he needed a cognitive test — though others offered a more sympathetic read, noting that live speeches often produce fleeting miscues.
The incident came on the same day Secretary of State Marco Rubio held a highly visible White House briefing, prompting direct comparisons. Rubio’s off-the-cuff performance, in which he fielded questions on Iran and other foreign-policy issues, earned praise for clarity and composure. Both men have been mentioned as possible contenders for the 2028 Republican presidential nomination and are close political allies, but Tuesday’s juxtaposition fed narratives about their relative readiness for a national campaign stage.
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Polling presented in recent months highlights Vance’s strong standing among conservative activists: a March survey of attendees at the Conservative Political Action Conference showed 53 percent preferred Vance as the 2028 GOP nominee versus 35 percent for Rubio. The article notes an earlier 2025 poll gave Vance 61 percent support and Rubio 3 percent, underscoring the volatility of early preference measures even among core conservative constituencies.
Donald Trump has repeatedly floated both men as potential successors, saying the pair are “very capable” and that a Vance-Rubio ticket would be hard to beat. An unnamed Trump adviser told Axios in February that a Vance-Rubio pairing would be the former president’s preferred configuration, with Vance on top. If either or both enter the 2028 race, Iowa — home of the nation’s first caucus — will be an unavoidable proving ground, forcing them to navigate local politics and campaign scrutiny.
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Beyond the immediate online reaction, the episode underscores the heightened scrutiny facing potential 2028 hopefuls and the way small public missteps are amplified in the social media era. For now, Vance’s stop in Iowa was intended to bolster Nunn’s campaign and rehearse retail politics in a crucial state; instead, it added an awkward footnote to his vice-presidential ledger and fed public conversation about temperament and presentation as the GOP’s post-Trump future takes shape.
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