‘Sofa Loren’ trends as JD Vance’s alleged drag photo goes viral while his campaign remains silent

WASHINGTON, DC: An image that allegedly depicts GOP vice presidential candidate and Ohio Sen JD Vance cross-dressing as a woman has gone viral on the social media platform X (formerly Twitter) on Sunday, August 11.

According to The Daily Beast, it began to trend under the hashtag#SofaLoren, a reference to the Italian actress Sophia Loren and the wildly popular rumor that Vance had sex with a couch.

When approached for clarification on the authenticity of the photograph, a spokesperson for Vance neither claimed it to be fake nor provided any further comment on the subject.

What is the source of JD Vance's drag picture?

The X thread of the viral image suggests Travis Whitfill, a contemporary of Vance at Yale, as the source of the photograph. He claimed that the photograph was taken by a classmate in 2012 when they all attended the university and was sent to him by another friend. Whitfill finally sent it to podcast host Matt Bernstein, who uploaded it on X.

In a statement to the Daily Beast, Whitfill shared, "It’s from a group chat of Vance’s fellow classmates and is from a friend of a friend. I believe it was grabbed from Facebook and was taken at a Halloween party.”

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

JD Vance has been vocal critic of LGBTQIA+ communities

JD Vance's work as a legislator was at complete odds with the recently surfaced image of him cross-dressing.

He introduced the 'Protect Children’s Innocence Act,' which aims to criminalize medical institutions that provide gender-affirming care to minors.

The Senator had further supported measures to limit classroom discussion of sexual orientation and gender identity, labeling those who opposed his views as "groomers."

Internet trolls JD Vance over photograph

Netizens had a field day commenting on the drag picture of Vance on X. While some mockingly praised his get-up, others called him out over the hypocrisy of his current anti-LGBTQIA+ views.

"I’ll give JD Vance this- his eyeliner is totally on point in that photo.. so much better than whatever 90s boy band guy liner he’s got going on now," wrote a user.

"He dressed up as Ivanka? Weird," quipped another.

"What better way to get on Trump’s good side than by trying to look like his Ivanka," echoed a third.

"Remember: It’s not about J.D. Vance in drag; it’s the hypocrisy," stated a fourth.

"Still rocking the eyeliner I see," jibed a fifth.

"Back when the JD stood for Just Drag," tweeted a sixth user.

"OMG! Are Republicans even allowed to do this?" commented a seventh.

"You go queen," chided yet another.

This article contains remarks made on the Internet by individual people and organizations. MEAWW cannot confirm them independently and does not support claims or opinions being made online.