JD Vance opens up about moment caught on camera during a family trip: 'That was what caused the great scandal'

The vice president also revealed who his three kids take after

AUGUST 13, 2025 4:56 PM EDTAUG 13, 2025, 4:56 PM EDT

Vice President JD Vance was in dad mode during his recent visit to Disneyland. Last month, a video of the vice president of the United States running on Tom Sawyer Island at the theme park went viral. The dad of three spoke about the moment during a new interview on The Katie Miller Podcast. "And so, why were you running after your kids at Disneyland? You're on Tom Sawyer Island. Like what's the story there?" host Katie Miller asked the vice president, who laughed.

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"I saw that and somebody was like, 'Oh, he runs funny,'" JD said. He explained to Katie, "My kids really like this game called Ogre where I like chase after them, but I don't run full speed. And so I was playing Ogre and that was what caused the great scandal of how I ran it."

JD, his wife Usha Vance and their three kids, Ewan, 8, Vivek, 5, and Mirabel, 3, visited the happiest place on earth last month. At the theme park in Anaheim, the 41-year-old vice president was spotted going on rides with his young children. Tiana's Bayou Adventure was admittedly JD's favorite. The vice president shared that they "had a very good time" and apologized to everyone at Disneyland for the "longer lines."

US Vice President JD Vance (R), US Second Lady Usha Vance and their children walk on stage as they arrive the inaugural parade inside Capital One Arena, in Washington, DC, on January 20, 2025. (Photo by ANGELA WEISS / AFP) (Photo by ANGELA WEISS/AFP via Getty Images)

While discussing toddler temper tantrums on the podcast, JD revealed that he and his wife try to protect their kids "from becoming like the subject of a viral moment," noting that "sometimes that requires me to be very quick and to sort of anticipate this stuff as it happens."

TOPSHOT - Second Lady Usha Vance, U.S. Vice President JD Vance and their children attend the celebration of the Passion of the Lord on Good Friday as part of the Holy Week celebrations, at St Peter's Basilica in the Vatican on April 18, 2025. (Photo by Andreas SOLARO / AFP) (Photo by ANDREAS SOLARO/AFP via Getty Images)

The vice president also revealed who his sons and daughter take after. JD said, "So, it's interesting. It's the opposite of I think what they look like. So our 5-year-old, everybody says looks like Usha, but everybody says his personality is like a carbon copy of what I was when I was five. Really high energy, really gregarious, hard to focus on certain things. Like sometimes just goes deaf randomly because you're talking to him and it's like he doesn't hear you. And then the other two, they look more like me, but they take after Usha."