VP JD Vance reveals personal side: Magic cards, Mazzy Star, memes and ice cream

WASHINGTON — In a wide-ranging interview this week on the Katie Miller podcast, Vice President JD Vance offered a rare glimpse into his personal life, sharing everything from his scientific approach to evaluating ice cream brands to his embarrassment over a nerdy card game hobby.

The conversation revealed a more relaxed side of the nation’s second-highest officeholder, who discussed his favorite 90s rock songs, dream vacation destinations, and the surprisingly mundane reality of high-level government work.

Sitcom aspects of his job: Vance said there have been moments that could be an episode of “Veep” and other television shows. He recalled a chaotic conference call where top officials kept joining late and needing the issue re-explained. “It felt like an episode of ‘The Office,’ because by the sixth or seventh person… I was like, what the hell is going on? Get me out of this. And Marco [Rubio] was actually on the call, and just started, like, laughing hysterically.”

“There are these moments where it feels very ceremonial,” Vance said. “But the reality is, your calendar is still full of Zoom calls, briefings, meetings. It’s not glamorous. But you’re doing real work — just in an environment where everything feels a little hyper-real.”

Vance also emphasized the disconnect between how the job is perceived and how it’s lived. “People assume it’s all power and prestige,” he said. “But so much of the day-to-day is just logistics.”

States to visit: Vance said he and his wife Usha want to visit all 50 states. He’s been to 48 and she’s been to 49. Neither of them has been to Alaska. Hawaii is the other state Vance hasn’t yet visited and wants to see.

Vance said Hawaii appeals to him because it offers something for everyone in his family, combining his love of mountains with his children’s preference for beaches. He noted that his predecessor as vice-president, Kamala Harris, got to visit Hawaii on official business, and he hopes to do so, as well.

“I love mountains,” he said. “West Virginia is my perfect vacation spot because the streams, the beautiful greenery, the mountains, I’m not much of a beach guy, but in Hawaii, you get the beautiful mountains, you also get the beach.”

Parenting under the microscope: Being vice president means even normal toddler meltdowns can go viral, so Vance has developed a no-nonsense approach to public parenting crises. While his wife Usha tries to reason with their three young children during outbursts, Vance takes a more direct route. “I immediately grab them, take them to the bathroom, and say, ‘You got to cut this shit out,’” he explained. The strategy stems from protecting his kids from unwanted internet fame: “If the kids have a total meltdown with all the cameras on, then it becomes a viral moment through no fault of their own.”

Favorite ice cream: Vance expressed strong opinions about ice cream. Like a good Cincinnatian, he declared Graeter’s superior to other brands.

What sets Graeter’s apart, according to Vance, is its density and richness.

“If you hold a pint of Graeter’s in your hand and then you hold a pint of like Breyers at a grocery store, the graters is literally, like, twice as heavy because it’s so calorie dense, so that’s one of the reasons why it tastes better,” he explains.

Vance told the podcaster that Marco Rubio shares his affinity for ice cream and frequently bumps into him when he’s “just been down to the Navy mess in the White House and he’s got a bunch of ice cream.”

Favorite music: Vance said he’s firmly rooted in classic rock “of the Pearl Jam era or the Led Zeppelin era” and 1990s alternative music. He says, “Fade Into You” by Mazzy Star is “probably like my favorite song of the entire 90s rock era.”

Nerdy hobby: Vance admitted that he still enjoys playing “Magic: The Gathering,” a collectible trading card game that came out in 1993. He said he’s trying to get his children to play it with him. During a prior podcast appearance, he said the podcaster had him sign one of the cards.

“I knew the card that he had, and I felt really embarrassed about it, like more embarrassed than anything in like, the past six months,” Vance recalled.

Favorite meme: “There was the whole thing about how I was in the couches,” he said, referring to a viral moment from earlier this year. “Right after the Pope died, there was just a meme of the Pope, Usha and a couch, and it took me a second to get it. And then when I got it, I was like, man, that’s pretty good … I like to think the left isn’t very good at memeing, so my hope is that a right winger came up with that, because that was a very funny meme.”

Dinner companions: When asked if he could have dinner with any three people, living or dead, Vance picked Isaac Newton, Donald Trump, and Abraham Lincoln. When asked who would dominate the conversation, he diplomatically replied, “I’m not going to answer that.”

This article was assembled with assistance from Artificial Intelligence.