“Chinese Peasants”: JD Vance Says the Quiet Part Loud—Again

Sofa

“Vice President” JD Vance opened his mouth again this week, and—true to form—what came out was classist, racially loaded, and dripping with the kind of smug nationalism that fuels exactly zero solutions. In an interview on Fox News, Vance defended Trump’s tariffs by saying America “borrows money from Chinese peasants to buy the things those Chinese peasants manufacture.”

Let that marinate.

The Vice President of the United States just labeled millions of Chinese laborers peasants, not once, but twice in one sentence—while painting them as the economic backbone of a system he and his party have helped create, exploit, and now want to scapegoat. It’s a statement steeped in arrogance and ignorance—and we need to talk about what it really says about the administration’s worldview.

Peasants? Really?

Let’s keep it a buck: “peasant” isn’t just some neutral descriptor. It’s a term historically used to degrade rural, working-class people—especially in feudal or post-colonial contexts. When JD Vance uses that language to describe Chinese workers, he’s not just throwing shade at China’s economy. He’s reinforcing an image of Chinese people as backward, impoverished, and disposable. That’s not economic analysis. That’s coded language. That’s prejudice.

The term dehumanizes and flattens the lives of millions into a caricature: barefoot factory drones who exist only to supply America’s Walmarts. It plays directly into old-school, Cold War-era Orientalism—the idea that the East is inferior, underdeveloped, and there for the West to use or fear as needed.

It’s Also Classist as Hell

Let’s not forget that JD Vance built his political persona on being a mouthpiece for the white working class. “Hillbilly Elegy” was his love letter to the struggles of rural Americans. But when it comes to working-class people outside the U.S.—especially those who aren’t white? Suddenly, they’re peasants.

That’s not a populist. That’s a nationalist elitist in populist cosplay.

Chinese laborers—many of whom endure brutal conditions for low wages to support families and communities—deserve more respect than the snide condescension of an Ivy League venture capitalist turned MAGA VP. But respect isn’t part of this administration’s vocabulary unless it comes in red, white, and blue.

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Dog Whistles and Double Standards

Imagine for one second if Kamala Harris or Barack Obama had called foreign workers “peasants.” Fox News would still be having seizures about it. But JD Vance does it, and it’s crickets from the GOP—and barely a blip in most mainstream coverage.

This is the same party that melts down anytime someone dares to question American exceptionalism, but they’re perfectly comfortable labeling an entire population of foreign workers as lowly serfs to justify economic policy. Vance’s comment isn’t just racially insensitive—it’s a flashing neon sign of how the GOP sees the rest of the world: beneath them.

And let’s be honest, when they say “America First,” they don’t mean all Americans. They mean white, wealthy Americans. Everyone else—whether they’re Chinese factory workers or Black and brown folks struggling right here—is a tool or a threat.

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Global Hypocrisy 101

Here’s the thing….. American corporations chose this system. They outsourced labor, gutted unions, and shipped jobs overseas to increase profit margins. Now that the consequences of late-stage capitalism are biting back—economic insecurity, supply chain chaos, foreign dependence—this administration wants to blame the very people exploited by those decisions.

That’s not leadership. That’s cowardice wrapped in patriotic platitudes.

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Say It Loud: This Is Not Just About China

Vance’s comment may have been aimed at China, but it’s a mirror of how this administration views workers across the board. Low-wage laborers in Detroit, delivery drivers in Atlanta, farm workers in the Central Valley, garment workers in Bangladesh—they’re all just “peasants” to this crowd. Useful when convenient, invisible when not.

The message is clear: dignity is conditional. Respect is selective. And empathy is nonexistent unless you’re waving a MAGA flag or writing checks to the campaign.

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Bottom Line: Watch What They Say—And What They Mean

When JD Vance calls Chinese workers “peasants,” he’s not just being impolite. He’s telling you what this administration thinks of poor people, non-white people, and the global working class. He’s saying the quiet part loud.

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