Vice President J.D. Vance pushed back sharply against ABC News host George Stephanopoulos during a tense Sunday interview, accusing him of fixating on unproven allegations against Border Czar Tom Homan instead of discussing the government shutdown and its impact on Americans.

The exchange, which aired on This Week with George Stephanopoulos, centered on reports alleging that Homan had accepted a $50,000 bribe — claims that have not been substantiated.

Stephanopoulos cited an FBI audio tape from September 2024 that he said contained evidence of the alleged payment.

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Vance immediately rejected the premise of the question.

“I don’t know what tape you’re referring to, George, I saw media reports that Tom Homan accepted a bribe. There’s no evidence of that,” Vance said.

“And here’s George why fewer and fewer people watch your program, and why you’re losing credibility because you’re talking for now five minutes with the Vice President United States about this story regarding Tom Homan, a story that I’ve read about, but I don’t even know the video that you’re talking about.”

The Vice President criticized Stephanopoulos for what he described as misplaced priorities during a time of national crisis.

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“Meanwhile, low income women can’t get food because the Democrats and Chuck Schumer have shut down the government,” Vance said.

“Right now we’re trying to figure out how to pay our troops because Chuck Schumer has shut down the government. You are focused on a bogus story. You’re insinuating criminal wrongdoing against a guy who has done nothing wrong.”

Vance continued, urging the conversation to shift toward the government shutdown and its effect on working families.

“Instead of focusing on the fact that our country is struggling because our government shut down, let’s talk about the real issues,” he said.

“George I think the American people would benefit much more from that than from you going down some weird left wing rabbit hole where the facts clearly show that Tom Homan didn’t engage in any criminal wrongdoing.”

Stephanopoulos defended his line of questioning, insisting that it was legitimate to raise the issue.

“It’s not a weird left wing rabbit hole,” Stephanopoulos responded.

“I didn’t insinuate anything. I asked you whether Tom Homan accepted $50,000 as was heard on an audio tape recorded by the FBI in September 2024, and you did not answer the question. Thank you for your time this morning.”

As Stephanopoulos moved to end the segment, Vance attempted to continue responding. “No. George, I said…” Vance began, before the host interjected.

“We’ll be right back,” Stephanopoulos said, cutting to commercial.

.@VP nukes George Slopidopolous for obsessing over made-up Fake News BS while not asking a single question about the Democrat Shutdown: “Here’s, George, why fewer and fewer people watch your program…”

George gets big mad, cuts @VP off, and goes to commercial pic.twitter.com/VVm2FV5ujd

— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) October 12, 2025

The exchange drew immediate attention online, with clips circulating widely on social media.

Supporters of the Vice President praised him for standing up to what they viewed as biased questioning, while critics argued that he evaded a direct answer.

Tom Homan, who serves as President Donald Trump’s Border Czar, has not been charged with any wrongdoing, and no official evidence has been released supporting the bribery allegations mentioned during the broadcast.

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