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Last week, failed Republican candidate Laura Loomer tweeted, “If Kamala Harris wins, the White House will smell like curry & White House speeches will be facilitated via a call center and the American people will only be able to convey their feedback through a customer satisfaction survey at the end of the call that nobody will understand.” Loomer’s tweet was so blatantly bigoted that even Marjorie Taylor Greene called it racist.

During an interview with NBC News, Trump’s VP pick, J.D. Vance, was given the opportunity to denounce Loomer — who traveled with Trump to Philadelphia for his presidential debate against Harris — and instead of condemning her for her use of Indian stereotypes to reference Harris’ Indian heritage, Vance essentially responded with: OK, now do her Black side.

Kristen Welker, host of NBC’s Meet the Press, asked Vance about Loomer’s comments, to which he responded by claiming he only read what she wrote this morning, because “I knew that you’d ask me about it.”

“Look, Kristen, I make a mean chicken curry, I don’t think that it’s insulting for anybody to talk about their dietary preferences or what they want to do in the White House,” Vance said, pretending he doesn’t know that the “curry” reference was a jab at Harris’ racial background, which is a background shared by his own wife and children.  (He also completely ignored the “call center” reference.)

“Do I agree with what Laura Loomer said about Kamala Harris? No, I don’t. I also don’t think that this is actually an issue of national import. Is Laura Loomer running for president? No,” he continued. “Kamala Harris is running for president, and whether you’re eating curry at your dinner table or fried chicken, things have gotten more expensive thanks to her policies.”

Folks on social media immediately flagged Vance’s “fried chicken” reference as a thinly veiled jab at Harris’ paternal Black heritage. (Harris’ father is Jamaican and Jamaicans are also known for eating curry-related meals, but, whatever.) But, honestly, Vance’s response goes deeper than that.

When Vance was first announced as Trump’s running mate, MAGA supporters across social media were up in arms over the news that Vance is married to an Indian woman whose family surname he adopted and that he and his wife, Usha Vance, gave all three of their children traditional Indian names. In addressing it, Vance passively mentioned the “white supremacists” who have “attacked” them in a way that didn’t really condemn the attackers and certainly wasn’t much of a defense of his wife.

“Obviously, she’s not a white person…But I just—I love Usha,” he said in a way many took to mean that he loves his wife despite her ethnic background. So, it’s no surprise that he doesn’t think Loomer’s anti-Indian remark is “of national import” or any import for that matter despite the fact that her remark would also implicate his entire immediate family.

Also, regardless of the fact that Loomer isn’t the one running for president, she is a loud supporter of the ex-president who wants to be president again has embraced, calling her an “amazing” woman at one of his recent rallies.

The same week Loomer posted her “curry” tweet, she called Harris, New York AG Letitia James, and Fulton County DA Fani Willis “meritless DEI Shaniquas,” referencing a stereotypical name for Black women and implying that these Black women became elected officials through DEI, which is not at all how DEI or elected offices work.

Before that, Loomer called Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee a “ghetto b-tch”  immediately after Lee died following a battle with pancreatic cancer.

All Vance had to do was keep it real about Loomer’s racism, but, instead, he dismissed it and sprinkled in a little dog-whistling of his own for a little racist razzle-dazzle. Now, the fine folks on X are calling him a “coward” and “KKK whisperer” over the way he handled himself during the interview.

Check out the reactions below.