Did JD Vance admit Elon Musk is making Trump ‘look bad’? Alleged audio surfaces

An alleged ‘leaked’ audio of US Vice President JD Vance has gone viral on social media where he seems to be ripping into Elon Musk.

An alleged ‘leaked’ audio of US Vice President JD Vance has gone viral on social media. As heard in the clip, the 40-year-old allegedly says that President Donald Trump’s top adviser and DOGE chief Elon Musk is making the government ‘look bad’. HT.com has not independently verified the authenticity of this audio.

Donald Trump, Elon Musk and JD Vance(AP)

In the audio clip, a man can be heard saying: "He's getting criticized in the media, and he says that he's helping, and he's not. He's making us look bad. He's making me look bad. And I'll tell you this, and you wouldn't like it if I said it, but he's not even an American. He is from South Africa. It is cosmopolitan.”

There is no source to confirm if the person speaking is JD Vance. A TikTok post with the VP’s photo and the audio playing in the background has gone viral.

"There's this great American leader in a room that has the portraits of some of the greatest men that ever lived in this country, and he has the audacity to act like he is an elected official. I am an elected official. I am the important one. In this situation, not him. So if he wants to tank the economy and his cars, maybe that's what he deserves,” the audio further goes.

Musk-led AI bot Grok has dubbed the unverified audio as ‘likely not real’. When asked if the clip was real, Grok responded: "Likely not real—leaked JD Vance audio on Elon Musk lacks credible evidence. The original post uses satirical terms like 'toddler pants' and 'MuskRAT,' suggesting humor, not fact. No reliable sources confirm it; seems fabricated."

The audio has gone viral weeks after Musk took over the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to slash federal spending across several departments. The 53-year-old’s actions have sparked nationwide protests and boycott calls against Tesla.