Vice President J.D. Vance made an unusual remark about “dead people” voting during an anti-fraud address in Bangor, Maine, at a public event tied to the Task Force to Eliminate Fraud.
The exchange began when an audience member shouted a reference to deceased individuals casting ballots, echoing allegations previously raised by President Donald Trump about the 2020 election.
Vance expanded fraud‑review priorities after federal audits flagged identity‑theft risks in benefit systems. By: ZUMAPRESS.com / MEGA
Vance responded, “Unfortunately, they vote for Democrats, they don’t vote for us, my friends,” drawing laughter from the crowd. The comment came after he questioned whether deceased people were improperly receiving federal benefits, saying, “Call me old fashioned. I don’t think the dead people eat, so certainly they don’t need food stamps.”
Election administration experts have repeatedly said isolated cases involving ballots cast in the names of deceased individuals have occurred in the United States, but they maintain such incidents are rare and not significant enough to alter election outcomes.
Task force to eliminate fraud and its mandate
The Bangor speech was part of Vance’s work leading the Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, a federal initiative created by Trump. The group held its inaugural meeting on March 27 and was tasked with investigating alleged misuse of federal programs.
During the event, Vance said the administration’s anti-fraud efforts marked a shift in federal priorities. “It’s about protecting you, the money you send to the government and the services that you rely on,” he told the audience, adding the administration is “fighting to protect your tax dollars and fighting to put the fraudsters in prison.”
Vance described the scale of alleged fraud as widespread, saying, “It’s like fishing in a barrel,” and argued federal agencies had failed to ask “difficult questions” about improper payments and identity misuse.
Federal report on medicaid payments
Vance’s Maine visit followed federal scrutiny of the state’s Medicaid system. Earlier this year, the Department of Health and Human Services released a report stating Maine made “at least $45.6 million in improper fee-for-service Medicaid payments” tied to services for children diagnosed with autism.
Trump’s directives shaped the task force’s focus on Medicaid oversight and improper‑payment detection. By: ZUMAPRESS.com / MEGA
The task force has also identified several Democratic-led states, including Illinois, Minnesota, California and New York, as jurisdictions under review for alleged fraud or mismanagement involving federally funded programs.
Vance cites examples of alleged fraud schemes
During the Bangor event, Vance outlined several types of fraud the task force is investigating. He cited cases involving people driving luxury vehicles while receiving low-income assistance, saying, “People driving Lamborghinis who are getting low income assistance… that’s supposed to go for housing and food for our people.”
He also referenced alleged hospice fraud, stating, “Why is it that we have people in hospice claiming hospice benefits but who have no terminal illnesses?”
Vance later shifted to identity theft, arguing that some fraudulent claims involve stolen identities. “They’re stealing somebody else’s identity, claiming hospice services and then when that hard working American goes to apply for some other benefit, they get tagged by the bank as being a fraudster, even though it wasn’t them,” he said.
When Vance asked the audience how many people knew someone affected by identity theft, he noted that “at least half of the hands shot up.” He blamed the issue on what he described as weak federal enforcement before the Trump administration, adding, “That changed the moment Donald J. Trump became the President of the United States.”