Claim:
U.S. Vice President JD Vance once said, “It’s totally reasonable to not want neighbors who speak another language.”
Rating:
Context
Vance did not directly say the words, “It’s totally reasonable to not want neighbors who speak another language,” but the full statement in context revealed a sentiment that could be reasonably interpreted as identical to the one purported in the claim.
In December 2025, a rumor circulated online that U.S. Vice President JD Vance said that it was “totally reasonable to not want neighbors who speak another language” during an interview.
Social media users across platforms like Threads (archived), X (archived) and Facebook (archived) shared the purported quote, with one calling the vice president a “xenophobe” and adding, “Dude, your WIFE speaks another language! Are you TRYING to get sent to the couch tonight?”
The clip came from an interview on the New York Post podcast “Pod Force One with Miranda Devine” that was published on YouTube on Oct. 29, 2025. Vance’s comments in question began at the 27:36 mark, where he discussed the rising cost of rent in relation to immigration.
While the vice president did not directly say that “it’s totally reasonable to not want neighbors who speak another language,” the full quote in context declared a sentiment that could be reasonably interpreted as identical to the allegation in the claim. Therefore, we have rated this claim as mostly true.
Snopes contacted Vance’s press office for further comment. We will update this article if we receive a response.
The vice president’s full statement went as follows (emphasis in bold ours):
You have, let’s say, a family of five that you’ve known for five years, 10 years, moves out of the house. Is actually evicted from the house because there are people who are going to pay more for rent. And then what happens is 20 people move into a three-bedroom house. 20 people from a totally different culture, totally different ways of interacting.
Again, we can respect their dignity while also being angry at the Biden administration for letting that situation happen and recognizing that their next door neighbors are going to say, “Well, wait a second. What is going on here? I don’t know these people. They don’t speak the same language that I do.”
And because there are 20 in the house next door, it’s a little bit rowdier than it was when there was just a family of four, a family of five. It is totally reasonable and acceptable for American citizens to look at their next door neighbors and say, “I want to live next to people who I have something in common with. I don’t want to live next to four families of strangers.” And the fact that we had an immigration system that actually promoted that division is a real, real disgrace of the Biden administration.
Therefore, although Vance did not specifically phrase his words in the way social media users had claimed, his remarks did echo the essence of what was claimed.
On Dec, 8, 2025, Vance responded to an X user who shared a clip from the interview and alleged he said: “It’s totally reasonable to not want neighbors who speak another language.” Reposting the clip on X (archived), Vance replied: “First of all, it’s just a made up quote. Completely dishonest.” The vice president then added:
Second, what’s reasonable is to want to share a language with your neighbor. How do you borrow a cup of sugar? Resolve disagreements? Have a nice conversation? You need a common language, and in America, that language is English.
The far left became so deranged on immigration that they’re attacking people for wanting to be able to speak to their neighbors.
In addition to spreading widely on social media, news media outlets like HuffPost and USA Today reported on the vice president’s podcast appearance. The HuffPost headline read: “JD Vance: ‘Totally Acceptable’ To Want Neighbors Who ‘Speak The Same Language.'”
Snopes has looked into numerous rumors regarding the vice president, including a satirical claim that he said Labor Day should be a celebration of “women who go through labor.”
