Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump went fishing for compliments when he telephoned into running mate JD Vance’s town hall with NewsNation’s Chris Cuomo on Thursday.
The former president teed up his question by claiming it was “quite an interesting one” that should be “easy” to answer.
Trump then asked, “How brilliant is Donald J. Trump?”
Vance laughed, as did the audience of reportedly undecided voters.
“Well, first of all, sir, this is supposed to be undecided voters. I would hope that I have your vote, of all people,” Vance replied, later saying that “of course you’re very brilliant” and that Trump’s “true brilliance” is his “ability to relate to anybody in any environment.”
Trump lapped up the praise, telling Vance: “That’s very nice and I appreciate it.” He then asked Vance “how brilliant” is his 2024 election rival, Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris.
Vance laughed and replied: “That’s a very tough one, sir. I’m supposed to say something..”
“Don’t say it,” Trump responded, before claiming the GOP ticket was “leading by a lot” and “leading by a landslide.”
Critics, however, noted the cringeworthy nature of the exchange: