Vice President JD Vance spent the holiday weekend in San Diego, drawing protesters outside a high-end sushi restaurant Sunday evening a day after he was honored at a $2,500-a-seat dinner hosted by a conservative think tank.
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According to The New York Times, Vance was also set to attend a fundraising roundtable in the San Diego area on Monday, ahead of more fundraisers in Nantucket, Massachusetts, and Jackson Hole, Wyoming — a series of trips as part of his dual role as finance chair of the Republican Party.
The vice president has deep ties to San Diego through his wife, Second Lady Usha Vance, who grew up in Rancho Peñasquitos and whose mother is a professor and provost at UC San Diego.
Vance’s latest visit wasn’t without controversy.
On Sunday, Vance dined at Michelin-starred restaurant Soichi Sushi in the University Heights neighborhood. Video posted to social media showed a group of protesters booing and heckling his Secret Service motorcade as it left the restaurant and turned down Adams Avenue.
“Fascists aren’t welcome,” one yelled.
Soichi, a 26-seat restaurant known for its nigiri, was awarded a Michelin star in 2021, and reservations are known for being in high demand and difficult to book.
The restaurant did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
In addition to the restaurant visit, a high-priced dinner honoring the vice president was held in the region on Saturday night by the Claremont Institute, a conservative think tank based in San Bernardino County.
With tickets going for $2,500, the event awarded Vance the institute’s “Statesmanship Award” and featured Charlie Kirk, the leader of Turning Point USA, a leading conservative student group.
Founded in 1979, Claremont coalesced behind President Trump early in his first campaign for president.
One of its senior fellows, John Eastman, worked as a lawyer for Trump and played a pivotal role in efforts to overturn the results of 2020 election, drafting a strategy to try to convince then-Vice President Mike Pence to throw out swing-state electoral votes to declare Trump the winner.
Last month, the California State Bar Court upheld a recommendation for Eastman to be disbarred for his role in those efforts.