Vice President JD Vance has now followed President Trump’s footsteps as he sat down with Lara Trump and claimed that Americans needed to show their voter IDs to even buy a beer, but suggested such identification was not required for voting.
Trump has made a similar claim multiple times regarding simple grocery items, showing how both these leaders are completely unaware of what shopping for everyday items looks like in the U.S.
Vance then claimed that after the shutdown, the administration would focus on the SAVE America Act, adding, “It’s so simple to get on an airplane, you need voter ID. To buy a beer, you need voter ID, but to do the most important thing that we do as American citizens, exercising our right to vote, we let anybody vote without any confirmation they actually have the right to vote in our elections. Now I think Lara, that’s actually a form of theft.”
Vance’s words naturally drew netizens’ attention as they started pointing out how wrong he was. Under an X post that shared the VP’s clip, one user commented, “Uhhh…no I just need my driver’s license NOT what is required in the SAVE Act.”
Another one added, “So tourists can’t buy a beer because they don’t have a voter ID? Huge if true!” A third user made a straightforward comment, saying, “I’m just going to say that this isn’t true.”
JD Vance: “To get on an airplane, you need voter ID. To buy a beer, you need voter ID.” pic.twitter.com/Db1rN6xyOa
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) February 23, 2026
One user chided Vance, saying, “all you need to get on an airplane or buy a beer is to show your real ID drivers license. That’s not how the Save Act works. Have you even read it? You sound like an idiot.”
So tourists can’t buy a beer because they don’t have a voter ID? Huge if true!
— Maarten (@LappieM) February 23, 2026
Another one made a more critical comment, adding, “In these two people’s world your name magically appears on voter rolls, people are showing up & impersonating u to steal your vote and someone is paying people to do it. But they can’t believe a guy who partied with a p–o for years did anything that could get you in trouble.”
No one has ever said, “can I see your voter ID” at an airport or to buy liquor.
— Nina (@MaddenNina7) February 23, 2026
It should be noted here that the SAVE Act would make it mandatory for U.S. citizens to present a passport, birth certificate, or some other form of citizenship to register or re-register to vote. Moreover, it would also need voters to have valid photo identification before they can cast their ballots as this rule is already in place in some states.
While Republicans keep claiming that such a measure would help with voter fraud, Democrats have warned that instead of doing any good, such a step would lead to disenfranchisement of millions of Americans since it would make it hard to vote.
Federal law already requires that people who vote in the national elections are already American citizens, but it does not need documented proof.
Moreover, according to experts, voter fraud is not at all rampant as Vance and Trump and the Republican lawmakers in general have repeatedly claimed. Some estimates suggest that about one in ten Americans lack documentation proving citizenship, and therefore.
According to data from the Brennan Center for Justice, more than 21 million Americans do not have immediate access to the required documents, and they are also active voters. The data further revealed that if the SAVE Act is implemented, a huge number of people who do not have quick access to birth certificates, or passports, or naturalization papers could be barred from voting in federal elections between now and 2028, more so if they move to re-register.
Critics, therefore, bashed Vance as his comments made no sense, as that is not how buying a beer works in the U.S. It is quite interesting how he and Trump share exactly similar wrong ideas about the basic rules of the country, and despite being corrected multiple times, both of them keep harping on these.
