Young Republican Asks JD Vance How She Can Afford a Home and Children; He Responds With a Joke About a Senator's 'Ass'

A conservative student leader told JD Vance that Republicans keep urging her to marry and have children, then asked how she could afford a home to raise them in. The vice president opened his reply with a joke about Ohio Senator Jon Husted's backside.

Fox's on-screen caption named her as Kate White. She introduced herself as vice president of the Turning Point USA chapter at Texas Christian University. Turning Point USA is the conservative youth group founded by the late Charlie Kirk, a close ally of Vance.

She spoke at a Fox News town hall taped in Fort Worth, Texas, on Thursday, 29 October, and broadcast that night on Jesse Watters Primetime.

Vance thanked her, then said, 'I want to point out that I've only gotten one question about Jon Husted's ass.'

By his own count, the topic had come up once already. Host Jesse Watters also asked him during the taping about President Donald Trump's repeated praise for the senator's physique.

Clips of the exchange drew well over a million views on X by Friday, with one user writing that Vance 'wants to talk about Jon Husted's ass.'

What Vance Said About Homes and Families

When Vance turned to the question, he conceded his party had fallen short. 'I would say everybody, but certainly my side included, that we don't pay enough attention to the affordability problems that are affecting young people,' he said. 'Most Republicans don't. I think that I'm an exception.'

He said the party, the conservative movement, and the president were 'very focused' on helping young people 'afford the basic components of an American dream.' He blamed high prices on illegal immigration and Wall Street investors buying up homes, both of which he said the administration was tackling.

On investors, Trump signed an executive order on 20 January titled 'Stopping Wall Street from Competing with Main Street Homebuyers.' It moves to limit large investors' access to federally backed financing for single-family homes but stops short of a ban.

The immigration claim has been challenged before. In November 2025, PolitiFact found experts did not see unauthorised immigration as a primary driver of prices, citing years of underbuilding and restrictive zoning instead.

In another segment, Vance, a father of four, urged young Americans to marry and have children earlier, the advice White said she kept hearing.

Mortgage Rates Remain Above 7 Per Cent

Freddie Mac's weekly survey put the average 30-year fixed mortgage rate at 7.24 per cent on 29 October, down from 7.32 per cent the week before but up from 6.17 per cent a year earlier. The National Association of Realtors (NAR) reported a median existing-home price of $417,500 (£313,200) in September, up for a 39th straight month on an annual basis.

NAR's latest annual buyer survey found the typical first-time buyer is now 40, the oldest on record.

How Husted's Backside Became a Campaign Line

Husted was appointed in January 2025 to the Senate seat Vance gave up to become vice president. He faces former Democratic Senator Sherrod Brown in a special election on 3 November.

Trump first raised the topic at a 12 October rally in Youngstown, Ohio, recalling that he studied Husted after hearing about his football career at the University of Dayton. 'I looked at his ass,' he told the crowd.

Trump has since claimed the remarks lifted Husted in the polls, citing gains of anywhere from nine to 14 points on different occasions without naming a survey. A Fox News poll of likely voters, conducted 15 to 19 October, had Brown ahead 52 per cent to 47 per cent.

Husted has joked about it too. 'Don't worry, I was in the weight room this morning, working out,' he told voters in Clyde, Ohio, on 27 October. Vance joked at a 21 October rally in Sharonville that he was 'not talking about Jon Husted's ass.'

In Fort Worth, Watters asked about Trump's comments. 'Well, first of all, I'm jealous. The president's never said that about me,' Vance said, laughing, before adding that Husted, 'in addition to his very nice body,' would make a better senator than 'the lunatic he's running against.'

The same day, Vance rallied in nearby Weatherford for Texas Republican Senate nominee Ken Paxton, who trails Democrat James Talarico in recent polling.