On Saturday, CBS Evening News anchor Tony Dokoupil sat down with Vice President J.D. Vance ahead of the midterm elections to answer Michigan voters’ questions on the economy, culture, and the Iran conflict. Prepared to relieve swing voters from their hesitations on Senate candidate Mike Rogers (R), Dokoupil happily slid in his own attacks between voter questions in an attempt to dismantle Vance’s arguments. Even Mediaite’s article on the town hall was pleased with the host’s interruptions.
When asked about the hike in gas prices by a two-time Trump voter, the Michigander wondered why he shouldn’t vote for Democratic candidate Abdul El-Sayed over Mike Rogers. Vance continued to answer honestly, even quoting gas prices as “too high right now.”
Due to the crisis in the Middle East, Vance laid out the reality of the Strait of Hormuz, and how, “if we left and let the Iranians control shipping out of the Strait of Hormuz, what that would mean is you would pay a lot more for gasoline.”
Calling out Joe Biden’s administration, Vance went on to detail on how this issue should have been addressed in previous years (Click “expand”):
A couple of days ago I was in Texas and we announced we would use what is called the defense production act to massively increase the amount of refining capacity we have in the United States of America. That's actually the biggest reason why gas prices are so high, is because when Joe Biden was president we had about 20% of American refining capacity that went offline.
We are slowly bringing it online but it does take a little bit of time, and because we shut down so much refining capacity we were more susceptible to this shock that we've seen in the Middle Eastern energy prices. There's a lot that we are doing, it is just we also are working against an Iranian regime that's shooting at commercial shipping.
This is when Dokoupil made his first attempt to override Vance’s response by placing blame on the Trump administration, rather than address what wasn’t done to prevent a potential conflict in the Middle East (Click “expand”):
DOKOUPIL: If I may, he is talking about the increase in gas prices just since you guys took office. It has almost been two years. At a certain point it becomes your economy, not Joe Biden's economy. Also back in March right here in Michigan you said it was just a temporary blip in gas prices. How long is temporary?
VANCE: Well, look, I don't think that when this conflict is over we are going to see gas prices come down, but it takes two to tango. What is happening right now in the Middle East is that you have these terrorists who are shooting at all of these ships. They're blowing up the ships.
They're blowing up world energy markets in the process, and what we've tried to do -- we've actually got more oil and gas out of the Middle East than we've had in a very long time. That's because, frankly, our troops are doing incredibly brave work and we're the only people in the world that could actually do it. I guess that… I would argue to you, yes, I'm very aware.
Look, you probably know my story. I grew up in a working class family. When gas prices were high, I know that it made my grandmother suffer and I'm sure you are struggling with it in a variety of ways. But what I would say is what is Abdul el-sayed saying about it and what is Mike Rogers saying about it?
Dokoupil continued to exercise his power as host to interrupt Vance’s answer on when Americans will have enough money to become better consumers for small businesses.
Recounting the recent tax season with “No taxes on overtime, no taxes on tips, no taxes on people who are earning social security income,” Vance recognized the time between now and when new investment will be felt by Americans (Click “expand”):
DOKOUPIL: Vice President Vance, there's a big difference between what you are saying right now and what President Trump says when he is out on the trail. He says it is an a-plus economy. You say it is going to take time. You say you are frustrated at times. Which is it?
VANCE: Well, I think that what the president is saying is that we are seeing all of these massive new investments come into our country. But, he would be the first person to tell you that you have to build the factories first before you can employ the workers working in the factories–
DOKOUPIL: But to her point, it is not an a-plus economy if you hear stories like this.
VANCE: I think what we're doing is turning the ship around... That's what I would say. By the way… there are things that, look, we need to do more and we certainly can do better. One of the things I'm proudest of is we at the small business administration, I'm sure an agency that is very close to your heart, we've uncovered tens of billions of dollars of fraud so we can make better small business loans to businesses like yours. We want the money to go to you and not to the fraudsters. So there are things that we're doing and we've just got to keep working at it.
Dokoupil then went on to suggest corruption within the White House and Trump family, quoting a poll in an attempt to raise suspicion of Trump’s possible business ventures (Click “expand”):
DOKOUPIL: Another poll found that even half of Republicans believe that Donald Trump's personal business interests are affecting his decision as president. And, what that all comes back to I think is the question of have you seen anything inside the White House when it comes to corruption that makes you squeamish?
VANCE: You're asking has Donald Trump's decision making been influenced by his –
DOKOUPIL: No, I'm asking have you seen anything.
VANCE: I've never seen anything like that.
DOKOUPIL: From anybody inside the white house?
VANCE: I have never seen anything like that from the President. Certainly, look, in Washington, D.C. people are constantly trying to get an edge. It is something I complained about for a long time in Washington, D.C. You see K street lobbyists who try to get meetings to advocate for a particular meeting and I will take the meeting or the president will take the meeting. You certainly see evidence of corruption in Washington, D.C.
Do I see evidence of corruption from the President of the United States, from the administration, the actions the administration is taking? No, Tony, I just don't.
I think there's a lot of allegation out there and there's a lot of stuff where, frankly, I read the articles and read the super superficial summary and say that doesn't sound right and what they said the president did or his son did, they didn't actually do. Let's not convict people in a court of law. One thing I will say about the president of the United States –
DOKOUPIL: It is not really about the president.
VANCE: It is.
DOKOUPIL: It is a broader point.
VANCE: You are implicitly I think saying there's a corruption problem, that if he's not involved and I think you are accusing him of at least sanctioning it.
DOKOUPIL: The voters are saying it.
VANCE: Donald Trump hates when people make money off him. He hates the idea somebody would come in and say I will give you a meeting with the president and I will get rich because I gave you access to the president. The president would never tolerate that behavior, Tony.
Mediaite’s article following the town hall was pleased with Dokoupil’s questions stacked against Vance, going so far as to label the top 5 moments Vance “was repeatedly put on the spot” with tough questions.
To them, Vance seemed to struggle at Dokoupil’s lackluster questions.
The transcript is below. Click "expand" to read:
CBS’s CBS News Things That Matter: A Town Hall With Vice President J.D. Vance
October 17, 2026
08:06:52 p.m. Eastern(...)
TONY DOKOUPIL: If I may, he is talking about the increase in gas prices just since you guys took office. It has almost been two years. At a certain point it becomes your economy, not Joe Biden's economy. Also back in March right here in Michigan you said it was just a temporary blip in gas prices. How long is temporary?
VICE PRESIDENT J.D. VANCE: Well, look, I don't think that when this conflict is over we are going to see gas prices come down, but it takes two to tango. What is happening right now in the Middle East is that you have these terrorists who are shooting at all of these ships. They're blowing up the ships.
They're blowing up world energy markets in the process, and what we've tried to do -- we've actually got more oil and gas out of the Middle East than we've had in a very long time. That's because, frankly, our troops are doing incredibly brave work and we're the only people in the world that could actually do it. I guess that… I would argue to you, yes, I'm very aware.
Look, you probably know my story. I grew up in a working class family. When gas prices were high, I know that it made my grandmother suffer and I'm sure you are struggling with it in a variety of ways. But what I would say is what is Abdul el-sayed saying about it and what is Mike Rogers saying about it?
08:13:01
(...)
DOKOUPIL: Vice President Vance, there's a big difference between what you are saying right now and what President Trump says when he is out on the trail. He says it is an a-plus economy. You say it is going to take time. You say you are frustrated at times. Which is it?
VANCE: Well, I think that what the president is saying is that we are seeing all of these massive new investments come into our country. But, he would be the first person to tell you that you have to build the factories first before you can employ the workers working in the factories–
DOKOUPIL: But to her point, it is not an a-plus economy if you hear stories like this.
VANCE: I think what we're doing is turning the ship around... That's what I would say. By the way… there are things that, look, we need to do more and we certainly can do better. One of the things I'm proudest of is we at the small business administration, I'm sure an agency that is very close to your heart, we've uncovered tens of billions of dollars of fraud so we can make better small business loans to businesses like yours. We want the money to go to you and not to the fraudsters. So there are things that we're doing and we've just got to keep working at it.
08:14:55
(...)
DOKOUPIL: Another poll found half of Republicans believe Donald Trump's personal business interests are affecting his decision as president. What that all comes back to I think is the question of have you seen anything inside the White House when it comes to corruption that makes you squeamish?
VANCE: You're asking has Donald Trump's decisionmaking been influenced by his –
DOKOUPIL: No, I'm asking have you seen anything.
VANCE: I've never seen anything like that.
DOKOUPIL: From anybody inside the white house?
VANCE: I have never seen anything like that from the President. Certainly, look, in Washington, D.C. people are constantly trying to get an edge. It is something I complained about for a long time in Washington, D.C. You see K street lobbyists who try to get meetings to advocate for a particular meeting and I will take the meeting or the president will take the meeting. You certainly see evidence of corruption in Washington, D.C.
Do I see evidence of corruption from the President of the United States, from the administration, the actions the administration is taking? No, Tony, I just don't.
I think there's a lot of allegation out there and there's a lot of stuff where, frankly, I read the articles and read the super superficial summary and say that doesn't sound right and what they said the president did or his son did, they didn't actually do. Let's not convict people in a court of law. One thing I will say about the president of the United States –
DOKOUPIL: It is not really about the president.
VANCE: It is.
DOKOUPIL: It is a broader point.
VANCE: You are implicitly I think saying there's a corruption problem, that if he's not involved and I think you are accusing him of at least sanctioning it.
DOKOUPIL: The voters are saying it.
VANCE: Donald Trump hates when people make money off him. He hates the idea somebody would come in and say I will give you a meeting with the president and I will get rich because I gave you access to the president. The president would never tolerate that behavior, Tony.
(...)
