JD Vance Admits He Felt ‘Awful’ for Donut Shop Employee in Viral Video: ‘Clearly Had Not Been Properly Warned’

Screenshot via CSPAN

JD Vance acknowledged that his team could have handled a recent photo op better after it went viral thanks to his awkward interaction with a donut shop employee.

Last week, Vance was in Valdosta, Georgia when he visited Holt’s Sweet Shop. The clip was widely criticized online due to Vance’s struggles to make small talk with employees who were clearly unwilling to engage.

During a Tuesday night interview with NBC News , Vance said he felt “awful” for the female employee at the center of the viral video.

“I just felt terrible for that woman,” Vance said. “We walked in, and there’s 20 Secret Service agents, and there’s 15 cameras, and she clearly had not been properly warned, and she was terrified, right? I just felt awful for her.”

Vance then took a shot at Vice President Kamala Harris’s campaign when he explained his desire to do events that aren’t scripted. That being said, he also admitted that it’s still important to make sure people want to participate ahead of time.

“We don’t want to have these scripted events — I don’t want to go and do three takes of buying Doritos at a Sheetz,” Vance said. “I like to get out there and talk to people, and we want to make sure we’re doing it, but definitely make sure that people are at least OK with being on camera, or we’re going to walk in and you’re going to have a person who has, practically, a panic attack because she’s got 15 cameras in her face.”