Vice President JD Vance introduced a new technique to select reporters to ask questions at the White House press briefing on Wednesday.
After addressing the government shutdown and disputes with Democrat senators in a speech, Vance opened up the floor to members to the media.
When it came time to pick who should go first, Vance appeared somewhat overwhelmed by the packed room of reporters.
In the heat of the chaos, Vance turned to Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt for some guidance.
'Karoline, I don't know how you do this - how you actually choose people - because I don't know 90 percent of the names in here. Is it just who's the best dressed?
'I really like your shirt. Go ahead,' he said while pointing to a reporter.
The joke brought some levity to a serious press conference in the wake of a government shutdown that is expected to leave hundreds of thousands of federal employees without pay, cause layoffs and threatens public programs.
Vance and Leavitt's opening statements assigned blame to Democrat lawmakers who refused to pass a stopgap funding plan.
'President Trump and the Republicans will not force American taxpayers to pay for free healthcare for illegal aliens,' Leavitt said.
Vance echoed her statements, saying: 'What [democrats] have done instead, is shut down the government because we won't give billions of dollars to healthcare funding for illegal aliens.'
The VP particularly blamed the shutdown on the progressive, 'Chuck Schumer/AOC wing' of the Democrat party.
Democrats who voted against the funding plan said they did so because they want an extension of tax credits that make health insurance cheaper for millions of Americans but are set to expire.
They also want a reversal of cuts to Medicaid, and they oppose spending cuts to government health agencies.
The Senate voted Wednesday afternoon to again block a temporary funding bill which would have kept the government open until November 21.
Later during the conference, a reporter asked the Vice President about a deepfake AI video posted by Trump which in which Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer was edited to say, 'nobody likes Democrats anymore. We have no voters left because of all of our woke trans bulls**t.'
In the phony video, Schumer was flanked by House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, who had a Sombrero and large handlebar mustache superimposed onto his face. Mariachi music played in the background.
Critics have called the video racist and questioned whether posting a video like that aligns with the Trump administration's claims that they want to have good-faith negotiations over government funding.
Jeffries himself condemned the video as 'disgusting' during an interview with MSNBC. Afterwards, Trump posted another video of Jeffries with a Sombrero and Mustache superimposed.
Vance dismissed criticisms of the video, saying: 'I think it's funny. The president's joking and we're having a good time.
'You can negotiate in good faith while also poking a little bit of fun at some of the absurdities of the Democrats' positions, and even, you know, poking some fun at the absurdity of the Democrats themselves.'
Negotiations over the shutdown continue to be underway, and the Senate is scheduled to vote on government funding again on Friday.