While attempting to mock the current vice president and Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris, JD Vance, the Republican vice presidential nominee, shared a 17-year viral clip of a former Miss Teen USA contestant.
Although his “joke” was not well-received, the 40-year-old has refused to apologize.
On August 29, Vance shared a clip of an 18-year-old Caitlin “Caite” Upton as she attempted to answer a question about geography during the 2007 Miss Teen USA pageant.
He compared her flustered response to Harris’ recent interview with CNN, writing “BREAKING: I have gotten ahold of the full Kamala Harris CNN interview.”
Many called Vance out for resurfacing that particular moment and alerted him to the fallout Upton dealt with following the viral moment.
“You forced former Miss South Carolina to relive public humiliation, bullying and cruelty that once lead her to consider suicide,” someone commented.
“Seems like this dude just straight up hates women…” one person wrote in response to his post.
“Keepin’ it classy JD,” Katie Couric replied.
The following day Vance appeared on CNN.
“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?” John Berman asked the vice presidential nominee.
“No, certainly not,” Vance replied.
Berman then asked if Vance would like to apologize for his comments, and he said, “I’m not going to apologize.”
“I’m not going to apologize for posting a joke, but I wish the best for Caitlin,” Vance continued. “I hope that she’s doing well. And again, what I’d say is, one bad moment shouldn’t define anybody, and the best way to deal with this stuff is to laugh at ourselves.”
Hours after Vance made it clear he wouldn’t be apologizing for what he called a “joke,” Upton, who has previously retweeted Donald Trump, shared her own thoughts.
“It’s a shame that 17 years later this is still being brought up,” wrote the former Miss Teen USA contestant. “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 needs to stop.”
Since sharing her statement, it appears her account on X has been deleted.
No matter your political beliefs, this is a horrible thing to do, and JD Vance absolutely should apologize for bringing up an old clip from a difficult time in Caite Upton’s life.
What do you think? Should he apologize?
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