In a recent display of poor judgment, Republican vice-presidential candidate JD Vance reignited an old and painful memory for Caitlin Upton, a former Miss Teen USA contestant, by resurfacing her infamous stuttering answer during the 2007 pageant to attack Vice President Kamala Harris. Upton, who was just 18 at the time, became the subject of widespread ridicule when her nervous response to a question about Americans’ geographical knowledge went viral. Now, 17 years later, Upton finds herself once again in the spotlight, this time due to Vance’s insensitive attempt to use her past ordeal as a political weapon.
During the 2007 pageant, Upton, then Miss Teen South Carolina, struggled to articulate her thoughts when asked why many Americans couldn’t locate their own country on a map. Her response, a jumbled mix of words and phrases, was seized upon by the media and the public, quickly becoming an early viral sensation. The clip was played and replayed across the internet, leading to years of mockery and, as Upton later revealed, a deep personal struggle.
In a 2015 interview with New York Magazine, Upton shared that the relentless bullying she endured following the pageant left her contemplating suicide. The experience was so traumatizing that it took years for her to recover, and the pain of that time is something she carries with her to this day. Despite this, Vance, in an astonishingly tone-deaf move, decided to dredge up Upton’s painful past to score cheap political points.
On Thursday, Vance posted a video of Upton’s 2007 mishap with the caption, “BREAKING: I have gotten ahold of the full Kamala Harris CNN interview.” The tweet was clearly intended as a jab at Harris, but it also dragged Upton back into the public eye, forcing her to relive one of the most difficult moments of her life.
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BREAKING: I have gotten ahold of the full Kamala Harris CNN interview. pic.twitter.com/c6nfcJrFJy
— JD Vance (@JDVance) August 29, 2024
Upton, now a 35-year-old mother of two, took to social media to express her dismay.
“It’s a shame that 17 years later this is still being brought up. Regardless of political beliefs, one thing I do know is that social media and online bullying needs to stop,” she wrote on X (formerly Twitter).
Unfortunately her tweet has since been deleted, but we were able to get a screenshot of it here.
Her response was a dignified rejection of Vance’s tactics and a call for an end to the kind of online harassment that has become all too common in today’s political discourse.
Vance, however, showed little remorse. When confronted by CNN’s John Berman about Upton’s history and her public struggle with the fallout from her viral moment, Vance dismissed the video as “a 20-year-old meme” and suggested that the best way to deal with mockery is to “laugh it off.” He added, “Politics has got way too lame. You can have some fun while making an argument to the American people about improving their lives. I’m not going to apologize for posting a joke but I wish the best for Caitlin and hope she’s doing well.”
Vance’s dismissive attitude not only highlights his lack of empathy but also underscores a broader problem within the Republican Party: the tendency to trivialize serious issues for the sake of cheap laughs. This incident is just the latest in a string of missteps by Vance, who has faced criticism for his “childless cat ladies” comments and other tone-deaf remarks on the campaign trail.
As Vance continues his quest for higher office, it’s worth asking whether this kind of behavior is what Americans want in their leaders. Caitlin Upton’s experience serves as a reminder of the real human cost of online bullying and the importance of compassion in our public discourse. It’s time for politicians like Vance to stop using others’ pain as a punchline and start focusing on the issues that truly matter to the American people.
Featured image via screengrab.
