Vice President Kamala Harris and her campaign probably didn’t expect to start the week focusing on Donald Trump’s event at Madison Square Garden, but Democrats also didn’t want to miss an unexpected opportunity: As the former Republican president and his allies held a hate rally, it became necessary and important for their opponents to take full advantage.

This has not gone unnoticed in GOP circles, and The New York Times reported that the backlash to Sunday’s gathering in New York City has generated unease among party officials.

Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance, however, had his own unique take on the event that Politico described as “a political fiasco.” NBC News reported:

Sen. JD Vance said Monday that while he hadn’t heard the racist jokes made by a comedian at his running mate’s New York City rally the previous night, he thinks Americans need to ‘stop getting so offended.’ … ‘I’m just — I’m so over it,’ Vance said after an NBC News reporter asked about the inflammatory remarks about Latinos and others by comedian Tony Hinchcliffe, the first speaker at former President Donald Trump’s rally at Madison Square Garden on Sunday.

In theory, it would’ve been incredibly easy for the Ohio senator to simply say, “Of course those jokes were offensive, and we reject racism categorically. We had nothing to do with those messages and voters know that those speakers didn’t reflect our values.”

In practice, however, Vance chose a different course.

“I haven’t seen the joke,” the senator said at an event in Wisconsin. “You know, maybe, maybe it’s a stupid, racist joke as you said, maybe it’s not. I haven’t seen it. I’m not going to comment on the specifics of the joke, but I think that we have to stop getting so offended at every little thing in the United States of America. I’m just — I’m so over it.”

Vance went on to say that Americans can’t “get offended at every little thing,” and he encouraged people to “have a sense of humor.”

So, a few things.

First, Vance made multiple references to “the joke,” as if there was one unfortunate attempt at humor at Trump’s hate-filled rally. But to focus on one joke, or even one speaker, is to miss the totality of this ugly debacle.

Second, Vance isn’t sure whether the rhetoric was, in fact, “racist,” but he was at the Madison Square Garden event, and he’s had ample opportunity to review the coverage surrounding the controversy. This shouldn’t be an especially tough challenge for him.

Third, in his comments in Wisconsin, the senator made it seem as if this were solely a partisan matter, with the Democratic nominee and her party making a fuss. It’s not nearly that simple: Plenty of Vance’s Republican colleagues on Capitol Hill have publicly criticized the rhetoric from the rally, and the GOP chairman in Puerto Rico announced he’d withhold support for Trump unless the former president apologized for Sunday’s racism.

Fourth, while Trump’s running mate tried to pretend the controversy shouldn’t exist, Trump’s campaign spokesperson went to Fox News to put some distance between the campaign and the racist rhetoric. Vance could’ve done the same thing but chose not to.

Fifth, while the Ohioan suddenly wants people not to be offended by attempts at humor, I can’t help but remember that it was just last week when Vance was outraged — or at least pretended to be — by a imprudent attempt at humor from Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. Or put another way, Americans shouldn’t “get offended at every little thing,” but they should definitely get offended by things that bother Vance.

And finally, let’s not lose sight of the broader context. A wealthy and powerful white guy wants voters to know he’s “so over” people getting offended by racist rhetoric.

If Vance thinks this is a winning message that will make things better, I have a hunch he’s going to be disappointed.