JD Vance responds after he almost breaks college trophy in awkward blunder

The United States Vice President was left red-faced over the weekend after dropping a hefty college football trophy in front of hundreds of cringing spectators - including his boss, Donald Trump.

JD Vance appeared at the White House for a sporting awards presentation alongside the President Trump, where the pair handed the Ohio State American football team the almighty accolade.

The athletes had recently proven victorious against Notre Dame at the College Football Playoff National Championships in January, making them the winners of the first-ever 12-team playoff.

Ohio State representatives were subsequently invited to the Oval Office's grounds to receive their 35-pound trophy, with the responsibility falling onto Vance to hand it over - and given that Ohio is his home state, the pressure was on.

Unfortunately for the 40-year-old, however, things didn't go smoothly, and Vance dropped the award in front of a colossal crowd of onlookers.

JD Vance was left red-faced after accidentally breaking the trophy (Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Images)

In images from the big-name event, the father-of-three could be seen scrambling on the ground to pick up the trophy, which had snapped in half.

In the background, a number of players could be seen giggling at the embarrassing blunder.

According to The Independent, a number of attendees to the ceremony let out an audible gasp when the base of the award suddenly hit the floor.

Eventually, Ohio State running back TreVeyon Henderson was forced to intervene, helping Vance to hold the trophy aloft again.

In the hours after the humiliating mistake, the VP spoke out in a social media statement, seemingly mocking himself in an attempt to save face.

"I didn’t want anyone after Ohio State to get the trophy so I decided to break it," he jibed on his official VPOTUS account.

Unfortunately for Vance, however, the response wasn't enough to prevent ceaseless teasing from a number of social media users.

One penned on X (formerly Twitter): "Ohio State’s College Football National Trophy knows that JD Vance’s soul isn’t worthy, and thus, he’s unable to lift the trophy without breaking it."

"Sometimes the metaphor is a bit too on-the-nose," a second quipped.

Commenting on the slapstick nature of the blunder, another went on to tweet: "Guy’s begging for a piano to be shoddily hoisted into the air above him on the flimsiest rope you’ve ever seen."

Others, however, referenced Vance's controversial attack of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in the White House last week, during which he asked the European leader: "Have you said thank you once this entire meeting?"

On X, one critic mocked: "Has JD Vance thanked the trophy once?"

Another commented: "You should thank me for putting the trophy back together!"