JD Vance denies quote on neighbors’ language, but stresses need for one common tongue

JD Vance rejected a ‘made up quote’ about avoiding neighbors who spoke different languages, while insisting that English was America’s common tongue
JD Vance defended the need for a shared language among neighbors, arguing that daily interactions required a common language (Getty Images)
JD Vance defended the need for a shared language among neighbors, arguing that daily interactions required a common language (Getty Images)


WASHINGTON, DC: Vice President JD Vance took to the social media platform X to clear the air about his comments about America needing a single language on Monday, December 8.

Vance’s tweet was in response to Spencer Hakimian claiming that the vice president believed it was “totally reasonable” to not want neighbors who speak other languages. 

WASHINGTON, DC - NOVEMBER 06: U.S. Vice President JD Vance (C), speaks alongside President Donald Trump as Trump holds a dinner with leaders of Central Asian countries in the East Room of the White House on November 6, 2025, in Washington, DC. President Trump hosted President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev of Kazakhstan, President Serdar Berdimuhamedow of Turkmenistan, President Sadyr Japarov of Kyrgyzstan, President Shavkat Mirziyoyev of Uzbekistan, and President Emomali Rahmon of Tajikistan. (Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
Vice President JD Vance speaks alongside President Donald Trump as Trump holds a dinner with leaders of Central Asian countries in the East Room of the White House on November 6, 2025, in Washington, DC (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

JD Vance calls online quote dishonest amid language backlash

In response to the backlash online about his stance on having neighbors who speak different languages, the vice president cleared the air on Monday.

Reposting Hakimian’s post, he said it was a “made up quote” and called it “completely dishonest.”

Vance added that it was “reasonable” to want to share a language with one’s neighbors. He questioned how people would borrow “a cup of sugar” or resolve disagreements without a common language.

“In America, that language is English,” he wrote.

The vice president further criticized the “far Left” for becoming “so deranged” on matters related to immigration, that they were attacking people “for wanting to be able to speak to their neighbors.”

PITUFFIK, GREENLAND - MARCH 28: US Vice President JD Vance (C), with Secretary of Energy Chris Wright (L) and National Security Advisor Mike Waltz (R), speaks at the US military's Pituffik Space Base on March 28, 2025 in Pituffik, Greenland. The itinerary for the visit was scaled back after a plan for a more extensive trip drew criticism from officials in Greenland and Denmark, which controls foreign and defence policy of the semiautonomous territory. (Photo by Jim Watson - Pool / Getty Images)
Vice President JD Vance (C), with Secretary of Energy Chris Wright (L) and National Security Advisor Mike Waltz (R), speaks at the US military's Pituffik Space Base on March 28, 2025, in Pituffik, Greenland (Jim Watson - Pool / Getty Images)

JD Vance says wanting a common language is ‘totally reasonable’ 

In October 2025, JD Vance appeared on Miranda Devine’s podcast, where he chimed in about Americans living next door to immigrants.

At the time, Vance said that it was “totally reasonable” and “acceptable” for American citizens to look at their neighbors and feel that they lived next to someone they had “something in common with.”

“I don’t want to live next to four families of strangers,” Vance said while on ‘Pod Force One’.

Joe Biden (Getty Images)
JD Vance blamed Joe Biden's government for the influx of immigrants in America (Getty Images)

He commented on the presence of Haitian migrants in Springfield, Ohio, and said that one-third of the population was Haitian. 

Offering the perspective of a landlord, Vance said that previous tenants would pay $1000 a month for a three-bedroom house for a family of four or five people. 

“Now, all of a sudden, four families of Haitian migrants come in, each of them getting $1000 per family,” Vance said.

TUSCALOOSA, ALABAMA - MAY 01: U.S. President Donald Trump delivers remarks to graduating students at the Coleman Coliseum at the University of Alabama on May 01, 2025 in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Trump's remarks come the day before commencement ceremonies. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
President Donald Trump delivers remarks to graduating students at the Coleman Coliseum at the University of Alabama on May 01, 2025, in Tuscaloosa, Alabama (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

The vice president added that the migrants were willing to put 20 people into a three-bedroom house, which hiked the rent prices for everybody.

Vance said that one could respect their dignity while also being angry at the Biden administration for letting them in. 

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