George Stephanopoulos cuts interview short after JD Vance corrects record on ‘bogus’ Tom Homan bribe story

ABC’s George Stephanopoulos abruptly cut an interview with Vice President JD Vance short on Sunday as Vance was being questioned about reports claiming that border czar Tom Homan was seen in an FBI surveillance tape accepting $50,000 in cash. 

"The White House border czar, Tom Homan, was recorded on an FBI surveillance tape in September 2024 accepting $50,000 in cash. Did he keep that money or give it back?" asked Stephanolpoulos.

"George, you’ve covered the story ad nauseam. Tom Homan did not take a bribe. It’s a ridiculous smear. And the reason you guys are going after Tom Homan so aggressively is because he’s doing the job of enforcing the law. I think it’s really preposterous," Vance replied.

"I know Tom, I think that he’s a good man. He gets death threats, he gets attacked. He gets constantly threatened by people because he has the audacity to want to enforce the country’s immigration laws. I think that it would be a much more interesting store about why is it that Tom Homan, who is simply enforcing American immigration laws, is getting constantly harassed and threatened to the point of death threats. That’s a much more interesting question that I think journalists should focus on."

Stephanolpoulos said, "You said he didn’t take a bribe. But I’m not sure you answered the question. Are you saying that he did not accept the $50,000?"

"George, this story has been covered ad nauseam. He did not take a bribe," said Vance. "Did he accept $50,000? I'm sure that in the course of Tom Homan's life, he has been paid more than $50,000 for services. The question is, did he do something illegal? And there's absolutely no evidence that Tom Homan has ever taken a bribe or done anything illegal."

The two went back and forth on the subject, with Stephanopoulos asking whether Homan accepted the $50,000, and Vance asking, "Accepting $50,000 for doing what, George?"

"I’m not even sure I understand the question. Is it illegal to take a payment for doing services? The FBI has not prosecuted him. I’ve never seen any evidence that he’s engaged in criminal wrongdoing. Nobody has accused Tom of violating a crime, even the far-left media like yourself. So I’m actually not sure what the precise question is. Did he accept $50,000? Honestly, George, I don’t know the answer to that question. What I do know is that he didn’t violate a crime." 

Vance later added, "There’s no evidence of" Homan accepting a bribe. "And here’s, George, why fewer and fewer people watch your program and you’re losing credibility. Because you’re talking now for five minutes with the Vice President of the United States about this story regarding Tom Homan, a story that I’ve read about, but I don’t even know the video that you’re talking about."

"Meanwhile, low-income women can’t get food because the Democrats and Chuck Schumer have shut down the government. Right now we’re trying to figure out how to pay our troops because Chuck Schumer has shut down the government. You are focused on a bogus story. You’re insinuating criminal wrongdoing against a guy who has done nothing wrong, instead of focusing on the fact that our country is struggling because our government shut down. 

"Let’s talk about the real issues, George. I think the American people would benefit much more from that than from you going down some weird left-wing rabbit hole where the facts clearly show that Tom Homan didn’t engage in any criminal wrongdoing."

The camera cut back to Stephanopoulos, who said, "It's not a weird left-wing rabbit hole. I didn't insinuate anything. I asked you whether Tom Holman accepted $50,000 as was heard on an audio tape recorded by the FBI in September 2024 and you did not answer the question. Thank you for your time this morning."

Vance attempted to cut in, but the ABC host just said, "Governor JB Pritzker is up next. We’ll be right back."

Vance wrote on X after the interview, "Peace in the Middle East? China threatening critical supply chains? Government shutdown? George S doesn’t care about that. He’s here to focus on the real story: a fake scandal involving Tom Homan."