Weird

[Doctor CamNC4Me]

I won’t say it.

- Doc

[Chap]

I won’t say it.

OK, but:

From the Daily Beast:

JD Vance’s Campaign Won’t Deny That’s Him in Viral Drag Photo

An image of JD Vance allegedly dressed as a woman and wearing a blonde wig was posted to X, formerly known as Twitter, on Sunday. The unconfirmed image quickly picked up steam 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 did not deny the photo’s authenticity when approached by the Daily Beast, and did not offer any further comment.

The source who surfaced the alleged photo, Travis Whitfill, says 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.

“It’s from a group chat of Vance’s fellow classmates and is from a friend of a friend,” he told the Daily Beast. “I believe it was grabbed from Facebook and was taken at a Halloween party.”


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.

“I didn’t know him,” Whitfill wrote, “from all the sources I’ve heard, JD was actually a good guy in law school. Not sure what happened after though…”

“Doing my part for democracy,” he added in another post.

Many commenters online connected Vance’s alleged history of cross-dressing with his legislative history—which has long been a point of concern for LGBTQ+ advocacy groups.

The Ohio senator introduced the “Protect Children’s Innocence Act,” 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 “don’t say gay” legislation “groomers.”

Personally, I don't care a damn whether this guy dressed up for a drag party.

BUT ...

(a) A high proportion of potential Trump supporters will care. A lot.

(b) Many people will see this as yet more evidence that Trump made a pretty poor choice when he chose Vance as a running mate. Poor choices in people are not a good look for someone who wants to be President (again).

[Doctor CamNC4Me]

“We are an institute in a powerful death penalty.”

- DJT

Literally wtf.

- Doc

ETA:

[Xenophon]

I'm personally not a big fan of Walz and the "weird" thing.

Out of curiosity is it the message generally or how it has morphed in use? The initial call-out was on specific policy positions that are considered pretty off-putting by the American public. I'd agree that I don't like it in reference to any person's appearance but I don't mind it in relation to policy positions.

Or his couch zinger for that matter.

Agreed.

We already have two childish name-calling politicians in the race. I'd prefer it if we didn't have a 3rd. I get it from the PACs, and social media foot soldiers, but from someone who is going to be in a leadership position in the most powerful nation on earth, it just seems off-putting.

There's a fine line between pointing out the problematic aspects of candidates, and bullying -- and this seems to bulldoze right over that line.

Perhaps I'm just burned out, where "ordinary" is suddenly noteworthy... when a nation of 1/3 billion people should be able to produce something a bit more extraordinary. For once, just once in my life, I'd like a Jimmy Carter, or Dwight Eisenhower. I'm so exhausted voting against people, rather than for people.

All I can say to this is, AMEN.

[Jersey Girl]

Doing it.

“We are an institute in a powerful death penalty.”

- DJT

Literally wtf.

- Doc

ETA:

That's a Category 5.

[Doctor Steuss]

Out of curiosity is it the message generally or how it has morphed in use? The initial call-out was on specific policy positions that are considered pretty off-putting by the American public. I'd agree that I don't like it in reference to any person's appearance but I don't mind it in relation to policy positions.

I went back to what I think was the initial use, and I'd say that it's likely how it's morphed (even by him).

[Jersey Girl]

Trump CAUGHT Campaigning in Epstein’s FORMER JET
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TGZOvZJsNGA

[Morley]

ETA:

Ha! Five days ago, on another thread:

Vance should be careful. One of these days, he's going to find himself in a library, reading to children.

More power to him.

[Jersey Girl]

What is Trump's flippin' deal about his campaign getting hacked? Think it's real? A diversion? Set up to claim election interference? More generalized chaos making?

[honorentheos]

Hard to say. Word is Roger Stone confirmed he was told his email was compromised. I suspect the attempts are real, so it seems quite possible the claim is legit but not clear on the materials being from a legit source or not. Getting information on JD Vance doesn't seem particularly impactful.

ETA: It also sounds like recent attempts were targeting both campaigns. Stone chose to click rather than report. Could.be he thought it was from the cute middle aged mom he has been messaging with who needed a bit more cash to help her innocent son make bail or something.