JD Vance gave America.gov an unexpected NSFW review while discussing Donald Trump’s new AI-powered government website. The vice president quickly realized his mistake and clarified that he meant HealthCare.gov, the troubled federal site from 2013.
The slip came during a Washington, D.C., event celebrating America.gov’s launch. Vance praised the team behind the project after revealing that he had initially worried about how the new platform would work.
JD Vance quickly corrected himself after mistakenly naming America.gov instead of HealthCare.gov
HuffPost reported that Vance spoke alongside Airbnb co-founder Joe Gebbia, who led the White House’s National Design Studio. While discussing their early conversations about the project, Vance said, “Don’t let it be a clusterf**k like America.gov.” Vance immediately apologized for the profanity and checked whether children were nearby. He then corrected himself, explaining that he meant HealthCare.gov instead.
“America.gov has gotta be the good version of that, and I think you guys have done an amazing job,” Vance said. He then praised Gebbia and his team for their work.
The reference pointed to HealthCare.gov’s widely criticized 2013 rollout. The Affordable Care Act website faced major technical problems after its launch, making it a familiar example of a troubled government technology project. America.gov launched Tuesday as a centralized digital gateway for government information and services. The White House described it as a single entry point designed to help Americans access federal services and information.
However, the website quickly attracted attention for reasons beyond its launch presentation. Its AI chatbot initially gave answers that conflicted with several claims Donald Trump had repeatedly made. When users asked who won the 2020 presidential election, the chatbot answered, “Joseph R. Biden Jr. won the 2020 U.S. presidential election.” It cited official government records showing Biden received 306 electoral votes to Trump’s 232.
The chatbot later stopped answering that question and other political inquiries. It instead said it could not answer “political questions,” according to reports. The website also used AI technology from Google’s Gemini and Elon Musk’s Grok. The White House said America.gov would eventually expand its ability to help users complete government transactions.
For Vance, however, the launch came with one memorable verbal detour.
