Vice President JD Vance was in the middle of a rally for GOP nominees Michael Whatley and Jennifer Balkcom in Hendersonville, North Carolina on Monday, when a man seated behind him stood and shouted, “Release the Epstein files!” and “God bless our children.”
As security removed him and the crowd chanted “USA,” Vance said he had to amend something: “I said that we have had zero illegal border crossings in the United States of America. But one isn’t bad, right?”
wow — a protester directly behind Vance gets up and yells “release the Epstein files!”
Vance suggest he’s an illegal immigrant. https://t.co/VdptgKoIIl
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) October 19, 2026
Vance went on: “We know what the guy yelling at us behind us stood for,” and what “far-left Democrats” stand for, which he said is the idea that government exists “for fraudsters or criminals or illegal aliens.” He called the heckler someone who “did exactly what he was told.”
Vance did not address the Epstein Files demand itself, WBTV reported. His office did not respond to requests for comment from the Daily Beast and Newsweek.
Critics heard an insinuation that the man was undocumented. Vance did not say so. Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA), co-author of the Epstein Files Transparency Act, wrote on X that “many U.S. citizens want to see pedophiles in the Epstein files held accountable.”
This may be hard to believe @JDVance, but many U.S. citizens want to see pedophiles in the Epstein files held accountable.
— Ro Khanna (@RoKhanna) October 19, 2026
Gov. Gavin Newsom’s press office posted: “It’s insulting to suggest only ‘illegal immigrants’ care about justice for victims.” It added: “Most American citizens do too!”
It’s insulting to suggest only “illegal immigrants” care about justice for victims and accountability for perpetrators.
Most American citizens do too!
— Governor Newsom Press Office (@GovPressOffice) October 19, 2026
The demand is not limited to protesters. Khanna and Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) say the Justice Department is withholding millions of files in violation of the law Trump signed last year. Massie said on the House floor that “the government continues to withhold over three million files.”
After the House left early for the midterm elections, Massie wrote that members adjourned “to avoid votes on releasing the rest of the Epstein Files,” and promised to force a vote when they return. Khanna says the pair have secured enough support to force a vote on a second Epstein bill.
17 State Attorneys General sent House and Senate leadership a letter in support of the Epstein Files Transparency Act II.
EFTA II is an unfortunate necessity to achieve transparency and accountability since @TheJusticeDept failed to uphold EFTA I. https://t.co/bK4Rr66ptd
— Thomas Massie (@RepThomasMassie) October 20, 2026
[NOTE: The protester’s identity, citizenship, and immigration status have not been established, according to the reports. The incident came a week after a woman in a “release the Epstein files” shirt was shoved to the ground at a Trump rally in Youngstown, Ohio, Newsweek reported.]