The Marine who danced with Vice President JD Vance during the inauguration night ball revealed that he made a joke to “break the ice.”
Staff Sgt. Lexus Martinez, of New York, works as a food service specialist with the Marine Corps Enlisted Aide Program in Washington, D.C., represented the U.S. Marines as each branch of the nation’s armed forces sent one member to dance with Vance, President Donald Trump, First Lady Melania Trump and Second Lady Usha Vance at the Commander in Chief Ball Monday (January 20) night. Martinez said she and other service members selected had a rehearsal without Vance and Trump Sunday (January 19), so her nerves struck just before taking the stage Monday night.
“President Trump and Vice President JD Vance walked by and they just wanted to shake our hands, thank us for our service and to get facial recognition of who they were dancing with,” Martinez said, claiming Vance made a “really funny joke” that “broke the ice,” while speaking to the New York Post.
“He said, ‘Well, I hope you don’t step on my feet.’ And I said, ‘Well, I hope you teach me how to dance up there,’” and the two shared a brief laugh.
“It made me feel more relaxed,” she added. “He still has that Marine Corps humor.”
Vance served as a Marine combat correspondent from 2003 to 2007, which included one tour in Iraq before leaving the service and financing college at Ohio State University with the GI Bill. The 40-year-old is the first U.S. Marines veteran to serve as vice president.
“Him acknowledging me as a Marine and just like joking with me in that way. It felt cool to just be myself because, in the Marines, we’re all family no matter what. You’re a Marine 24/7,” Martinez said via the New York Post. “I was talking to someone in the brotherhood like we were family already. It just all felt so natural.”
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