Appearing on the New York Post’s Pod Force One podcast, Vice President JD Vance recently went on a rant about animal abuse and how people who engage in such acts are essentially bad. He mentioned that a person’s treatment of animals stands as proof of their character.
While his rants were targeted at liberal influencer Hasar Piker, who is currently under scrutiny for abusing his dog, Vance’s words drew attention to Homeland Security Kristi Noem instead, who had admitted to shooting her dog who apparently “misbehaved.”
Piker has been all over the internet since he was accused of using a shock collar on his dog. However, he has denied any such allegation and mentioned that his dog wears a training collar and added that “she accidentally ‘clipped herself’ while rising from her bed when the incident occurred,” as the Irish Star reported.
The interviewer referred to this incident and asked Vance’s opinion on the same. The VP said, “I think it tells you that they’re bad people. If you can actually cause suffering to an innocent animal, you’re probably the kind of person who doesn’t worry about suffering in people.”
He further added, “That’s been my experience, if you mistreat dogs, that’s a 100% sign that you’re gonna be a really terrible person.” He also talked about serial killers and how animals were the first victims of their abuse, as he said, “Well, how did Freddy Krueger get his start? One of the things they show is young Freddy Krueger torturing animals. If you’re not taking care of God’s creatures, then you’re certainly going to be, I think, a pretty bad person.”
While Vance’s words were totally meant for Piker, he did not appear to know or remember that his close ally Kristi Noem had previously admitted to abusing animals as she killed her own dog. In her memoir, No Going Back: The Truth on What’s Wrong with Politics and How We Move America Forward, Noem had talked about her dog Cricket and how she had shot her for her aggressive behavior and inability to get trained to function as a hunting dog.
Referring to Hasan Piker as serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer, JD Vance said: “If you can cause suffering to an innocent animal, you probably don’t worry about the suffering of people”
This comes as DHS Sec. Noem, who killed a puppy, cannot account for 3000 ICE detainees in Chicago. https://t.co/cVuVxLhMNy pic.twitter.com/uBt8ikQkW2
— Froggy Tonic (@froggytonic) October 29, 2025
It is important to note here that in the book, Noem did not particularly appear to be apologetic about shooting her dog. Instead, she used this horrific incident to show how she does not fear dealing with “difficult, messy, and ugly” situations, a quality that she believes is important as a politician.
Though Vance did not seem to be aware of the fact that his words and observations applied to Noem as well, netizens were quick to point that out. One user wrote, “@JDVance is the master of self-owning his own side with absolutely no self-awareness. It’s literally the only way he is (unintentionally) funny.”
Another user added, “Trump famously hates dogs and historically his worst insult for someone is to say they are ‘like a dog.’” A third user chipped in, saying, “I actually agree with him! In addition to @Sec_Noem shooting her dog, he should check in with his boss, who famously hates dogs and makes the negative comparison to being ‘like a dog’ all the time!’”
Vance’s rant on the podcast backfired quite spectacularly as the focus went majorly on Noem instead of Piker. While it is true that how a person treats animals says a lot about them, Vance should have done his research or kept in mind the behavior of his own colleagues and allies before commenting on the same.
