Vice President JD Vance spoke with podcaster Joe Rogan on Wednesday, July 16th, 2026, about the decline of California under Governor Gavin Newsom. Vance described how driving through a rough neighborhood in Los Angeles on his way to an elite Christmas party left him struck by the stark contrast between the two settings.

"And I realized when I was there, you know what this reminds me of? This reminds me of going to the U.S. Embassy in Port-au-Prince, Haiti," Vance said, as Rogan chuckled. He elaborated, "Like super security, crazy wealth and privilege and status on the inside, and squalor and misery on the outside."

Vance added, "It's the first time I'd ever thought America, like this part of America, is actually more like a third-world country than anything that I thought we'd ever become."

He expressed heartbreak over California's decline, noting, "Because every time I'm in LA, you can see why this was like the quintessentially American city." Vance also remarked on the city's beauty and weather, contrasting it with the conditions in skid row, questioning, "how could any state or any city let this happen?"

Sources