It has been noted that an image of JD Vance allegedly dressed as a woman and wearing a blonde wig surfaced onĀ X, formerly known as Twitter, on Sunday. The unconfirmed image quickly gained attention and began trending under the hashtag #SofaLoren, a reference to the iconic Italian actress Sophia Loren and false claims that the Republican senator had sex with a couch.
A spokesperson for the Republican vice presidential pick didn’t deny the photoās authenticity when approached by the Daily Beast, and did not offer any further comment.
The source who surfaced the alleged photo, Travis Whitfill stated that the picture was taken by a fellow Yale classmate in 2012, when Vance was attending law school at the university, and sent to him by another friend. Whitfill then sent it to podcast host Matt Bernstein, who posted it to X.
āItās from a group chat of Vanceās fellow classmates and is from a friend of a friend,ā he told the Daily Beast. āI believe it was grabbed from Facebook and was taken at a Halloween party.ā
Whitfill also posted about his role in bringing the photo to light, sharing screenshots of the text conversation in which he first received the photo.
āI didnāt know him,ā Whitfill wrote, āfrom all the sources Iāve heard, JD was actually a good guy in law school. Not sure what happened after thoughā¦ā
āDoing my part for democracy āāļø,ā he added in another post.
Many commenters online connected Vanceās alleged history of cross-dressing with his legislative historyāwhich has long been a point of concern for LGBTQ+ advocacy groups.
The Ohio senator introduced the āProtect Childrenās Innocence Act,ā which aims to criminalize medical institutions that provide gender-affirming care to minors.
The Republican vice presidential pick also supports measures to limit classroom discussion of sexual orientation and gender identity, and labeled critics of so-called ādonāt say gayā legislation āgroomers.ā
new: i have obtained a photo of jd vance in drag while at yale law school pic.twitter.com/jYf14Lwa4D
— matt (@mattxiv) August 11, 2024