Vice President JD Vance was caught off guard on live television Saturday when Joey Amor, the husband of a U.S. soldier killed in Iran's drone strike on American forces in Kuwait, pressed him on camera to explain why no one in the administration has been held accountable for what Amor called "fundamental failures" that preceded his wife's death.

The exchange happened during CBS News' "Things That Matter" town hall with Vance in Michigan, moderated by anchor Tony Dokoupil before an audience of voters from across the political spectrum. Amor's wife, Sgt. 1st Class Nicole Amor, 39, of White Bear Lake, Minnesota, was one of six U.S. Army Reserve soldiers killed on March 1 when an Iranian drone struck a tactical operations post at a port facility in Kuwait, one day after the war with Iran began.

"A Failure in the Leadership"

Amor told Vance there were "a lot of mistakes and a lot of fundamental failures" before the strike, and said other soldiers who were present know more than they've said publicly. "My wife has told me things before she passed," he said, pressing Vance on how the administration intends to hold military and civilian leaders accountable.

"IF THERE WERE FAILURES — AND I DON'T DOUBT THAT THERE WERE — THIS IS LITERALLY THE FIRST TIME I'VE HEARD OF THIS," Vance replied, adding, "There were issues with where troops were located that we realized were a huge mistake."

Vance told Amor, "I do not want this stuff to happen" and promised to "take every single failure extremely seriously," but his admission that he was hearing the specifics for the first time drew immediate scrutiny, with critics noting the moment came more than seven months after the attack. The Hill reported that the confrontation left Vance visibly searching for an answer in real time.

The strike that killed Amor's wife and five fellow soldiers has been the subject of earlier reporting that found the troops were working out of a lightly protected trailer shielded only by T-walls — insufficient against an overhead drone strike — and that no warning sirens sounded before the attack, giving them no time to reach a bunker. Fox 9's reporting on the Minnesota soldier's death noted the Pentagon updated the U.S. war death toll to 21 earlier this month.

The Kuwait attack was the single deadliest incident for American forces since the Iran war began, and the Pentagon has not announced a formal public accounting of the failures Amor and other military families say preceded it.

What's Next

The moment lands four weeks before the Nov. 3 midterms, in a state both parties see as pivotal to control of Congress, and as polling shows the war deeply unpopular with voters. Amor said he wants a public reckoning, not just private assurances; the White House has not announced any new review in response to the exchange. Vance is expected to face similar questions as he continues campaigning for Republican candidates in contested states over the final weeks of the campaign.