The Harris-Walz campaign stumbled onto the perfect gift — and it wasn’t even one of its own creation.
Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio), former President Trump‘s running mate, walked into a doughnut shop in Georgia last week for a standard campaign trail meet-and-greet. He met with bakery workers and ordered some goodies, but it was an awkward interaction. So, naturally, it instantly became an internet meme.
“I’m JD Vance, and I’m running for vice president,” he tells the woman behind the counter, making small talk. “OK,” she responded, sounding disinterested. Vance then orders. “A lot of glazed, some sprinkle stuff, some of these cinnamon rolls, whatever makes sense,” he says, pointing at the counter.
📹 Watch the clip if you haven’t seen it by now. It makes me cringe.
Progressive social media users had a ball with this clip. I’ve seen many spoofs of the quote, “whatever makes sense.” Watch some of the skits:
‘JD Vance talks with people at the park’: Watch on X
‘JD Vance goes to a donut shop’: Watch on TikTok
‘JD Vance at a Donut Shop’: Watch on TikTok
Now compare that to a recent video of Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D.), Vice President Harris‘s running mate, stopping by “iconic” sandwich shop Runza with his wife Gwen Walz in Nebraska.
“We really came just to go to Runza and then we did a little rally on the side,” Walz jokingly told shop workers. He then holds up a Swiss cheese and mushroom sandwich, showing off the bread like a food review YouTuber. 📹 Watch the clip
💡 Why this matters: Vance’s bakery blunder wasn’t a manufactured viral moment orchestrated by his political competitors. It was organic — captured by C-SPAN — and that’s why it was so effective. The Harris-Walz campaign could sit back and watch this play out. Meanwhile, Walz has been painted as a relatable high school football coach. These seemingly minor interactions put that dynamic on full display. Democrats have been winning the internet campaign this summer, but it’s unclear how that will translate into battleground votes.
Their TikTok popularity: Vance posted his first TikTok on Aug. 1 and has more than 500,000 followers, as of Aug. 26. Walz posted his first video two weeks later and already has more than 1.3 million followers. Trump has more than 10.6 million followers, and Harris has 3.9 million.