Vance Town Hall: Gas Prices, War Failures, Corruption

On Saturday, Detroit barber Keshon Wheatley told Vice President JD Vance he plans to vote for a Democrat for Senate after backing Donald Trump twice, because gas prices are “far higher” than they were during Trump’s first term. The exchange came during an hour-long CBS News town hall hosted by “CBS Evening News” anchor Tony Dokoupil. Michigan voters also pressed Vance on the war with Iran, the cost of living, immigration enforcement and corruption.

Wheatley said he had supported Trump in 2020 and 2024, largely because he credited him with keeping gas cheap. Now, he said, he would vote for Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed rather than Republican Mike Rogers. Vance conceded that “gas prices are too high right now.” Oil prices have stayed elevated during the Iran war, despite the United States and Iran refraining from active fighting in recent weeks. Asked when relief would arrive, Vance said, “When this conflict is over, we are going to see gas prices come down.”

Who Pays for the Wait

Sandy Johnson owns a family entertainment center. She told Vance her business was “barely making ends meet” and asked when the “normal American has money to spend on small businesses.” Vance said fixing the economy would take time, blaming a “bipartisan, multi-generational failure to under-invest in American workers” and manufacturing. “It’s gonna take more than 18 months to fix things and turn them around,” he said.

The numbers offer little support for the optimism. Since Trump returned to office last year, unemployment has stayed low, but inflation has remained above the Federal Reserve’s 2% target and eaten into wages. Manufacturing employment has stayed roughly flat. Trump has called the economy “A+.” Vance said the president meant new investments, adding, “you gotta build the factories first before you can employ the workers working in those factories.”

Accountability for a Costly War

Since the war began in late February, it has killed 21 U.S. service members and injured hundreds. In the conflict’s early hours, an Iranian strike on a site in Kuwait killed six Army Reserve soldiers, including Master Sgt. Nicole Amor. Her husband, Joey Amor, told Vance there were “a lot of mistakes and a lot of fundamental failures” behind her death and asked how the administration would hold leaders accountable.

Vance said he didn’t doubt there had been failures, but “sometimes information doesn’t filter up to me.” He pledged to “take every single failure extremely seriously” and acknowledged that where troops were located “was a huge mistake.” He didn’t name anyone who would face consequences.

On the war’s progress, Vance said “in some ways we have won decisively,” but “the enemy gets a vote here.” The administration wants a “final firm commitment from the Iranians that they’re not going to rebuild their nuclear program,” he said. He called El-Sayed, a frequent critic of the war, someone with no solution, and praised Rogers for calling for the war to end.

Immigration, Corruption and Data Centers

Sister Nancy Sylvester of the Sister Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, a fellow Catholic, asked Vance how he’d justify ICE tactics to people of faith. He said the goal was balancing law enforcement with humane treatment, called most agents “patriots,” and acknowledged that some “really screw up.” Pressed on major mistakes, he said investigations had led to “further training, or sometimes even ... disciplinary situations within ICE.”

Another attendee challenged Vance’s comparison of some H-1B visa holders to “foreign indentured servants.” Vance said, “To the extent that my rhetoric has been imperfect here, that’s on me.” Employers, he said, wield “way too much power” over visa holders who can be “shipped back to their country of origin” if they complain.

On corruption, Dokoupil cited polling showing many voters believe Trump prioritizes his business interests, as well as reports about Trump’s cryptocurrency earnings and the ouster of U.S. Ambassador to Greece Kimberly Guilfoyle amid allegations she asked someone seeking administration help to wire her $100,000. Guilfoyle denied wrongdoing, and Trump denied conflicts of interest. Vance said, “I have not seen a single shred of evidence” that Trump sanctions corruption, but added that anyone selling White House access should “suffer consequences.” He said he’d “follow the law” if a Democratic Congress issued subpoenas.

A Michigan resident who lives across from a data center said its constant buzzing had made opening windows “a luxury that we could no longer enjoy.” Vance said the facilities should pay more local tax, avoid raising residential utility bills, and ensure the benefits “can’t just go to a few tech billionaires.”

Why This Matters: Michigan is a swing state, and its tight Senate race could help decide control of the upper chamber in next month’s midterms. These answers carry real electoral weight. A former Trump voter is drifting away over gas prices. A small-business owner wants to know when relief will come, while a military spouse still awaits named accountability. Vance’s own words—that data-center gains shouldn’t flow only to “tech billionaires” and H-1B employers hold “way too much power”—acknowledge that markets left alone can shortchange workers and communities. Voters will weigh whether the administration offers enforceable rules rather than patience when they cast ballots.