JD Vance nukes heckler as police slam him to the ground and arrest him (screenshot via Kaitlin Bennett video)

Vice President JD Vance handled a leftist heckler like a pro, while cops threw the protester to the ground and arrested him, during a rally for Republicans in Lakeland, Florida, on Thursday.  

Vance joined Republican gubernatorial candidate Byron Donalds, incumbent Senator candidate Ashley Moody, and various other Republican House candidates on stage at the midterm rally.

In the middle of his speech, a heckler began screaming, and Vance paused to tell the crowd, “We got a clown over here, ladies and gentlemen.”

As police dragged the trespasser out of the event, the crowd broke out into “USA” chants.

“You know, you always, you always have to laugh at these protesters because that guy, you know, he pretends like he just broke out into an emotional protest, but he made sure to bring his cell phone at the end of a pole,” Vance added, acknowledging the heckler’s selfie stick to record the stunt.

“Ladies and gentlemen, that guy was nothing more, as we know — this is not a representative voter from the state of Florida. That guy is a Democrat plant who wants to raise your taxes and release illegal aliens on the streets of Florida. Well, we kicked him out just like we’re going to kick out the rest of the Democrats who want to do the exact same thing.”

WATCH:

Another angle from the crowd showed multiple police or event security attempting to escort the resistant heckler out as Vance called him out from the stage.

Eventually, as the man continued resisting, a police officer grabbed him and swept his legs out from underneath, throwing him to the ground to slap the cuffs on.

WATCH:

BASED Florida cop drops Democrat heckler to the ground at @JDVance rally before arresting him 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/YiRxuyMeXY

— Kaitlin Bennett (@KaitMarieox) October 1, 2026