Sen. JD Vance, who has been criticized on several occasions for comments demeaning women since becoming former President Donald J. Trump’s running mate in July, found himself in controversy again. This time, he used a viral clip of a beauty pageant contestant’s fumbling response to attack Vice President Kamala Harris, making women the butt of his “joke.”
Former Miss South Carolina Teen USA Caite Upton was the target of constant mocking and bullying after her viral 2007 appearance as a pageant contestant, where she gave a stuttering answer to a question about why many Americans could not locate the United States on a map.
After Vance resurrected the clip on Aug. 29 with the caption, “I have gotten ahold of the full Kamala Harris CNN interview,” Upton responded on Aug. 30, “It’s a shame that 17 years later this is still being brought up.”
“There’s not too much else to say about it at this point. Regardless of political beliefs, one thing I do know is that social media and online bullying need to stop,” she continued, before adding, “For anyone else going through something similar, please visit EndCyberbullying.org and WhiteFlag as resources.”
BERMAN: Last night you posted a clip from Ms Teen US 2007 — Caitlin Upton. When you posted that, were you aware she thought about committing suicide for the attention that received?
JD VANCE: No, certainly not.
B: Would you like to apologize?
V: I'm not going to apologize pic.twitter.com/tn7FYTS3v4
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) August 30, 2024
Since Upton’s statement, her X account has been deleted. Responses to her post included many critical comments from netizens pointing out what they said was her longtime support of Trump—he owned the pageant from 1996 to 2015. A 2007 photo of Upton and other contestants posing with Trump and Donald Trump Jr. at a pageant party was widely circulated on X.
In a 2015 interview with New York Magazine, Upton, who modeled after the pageant and competed on The Amazing Race in 2010, said, “I definitely went through a period where I was very, very depressed. But I never let anybody see that stuff, except for people I could trust. I had some very dark moments where I thought about committing suicide.”
“And somebody once put a letter in my parents’ mailbox about how my body was going to be eaten alive by ants and burned in a freak fire. And then it said, in all caps, GO DIE CAITE UPTON, GO DIE FOR YOUR STUPIDITY,” she added, noting that the harsh comments lasted “every single day for a good two years.”
Despite the outcry over the post, Vance has been unapologetic. After being informed of Upton’s mental health challenges, he told CNN‘s John Berman, “Politics has gotten way too lame, John, way too boring.”
“You can have some fun while making an argument to the American people about improving their lives. I’m not going to apologize for a joke,” he said, adding, “but I wish the best for Caitlin and I hope she’s doing well.”