Zoom in. Enhance. And there it is again.
The internet cannot seem to look away from JD Vance’s eyes.
Since almost the very moment that Donald Trump announced him as his vice presidential running mate, JD Vance has faced allegations of using eyeliner. The speculation has followed him from campaign rallies to the White House.
It only intensified when his inaugural portrait was released in January 2025. The image had an uncanny feel to it. The background looked almost like AI, and the VP’s eyes were tinted in a way that almost looked gray.
When the portrait was released online, members of the Twitterati had a field day. They zoomed in on the upper waterline of his eyelids, which looked dark black.
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“Rocking the smokey eye!!” one person joked on X, formerly Twitter.
Rocking the smokey eye!!
— Jackie (@grammawho) January 17, 2025
Others were more confused than amused. “What make-up artist worth salt would apply eyeliner and not pluck them eyebrows?” another person asked.
That doesn’t even make sense people. What make-up artist worth salt would apply eyeliner and not pluck them eyebrows? Come on now!
— Angelica Kuhn (@AngelicaKuhn2) January 17, 2025
Before that portrait, there had already been chatter. At one point, his wife, Usha Vance, was asked directly whether her husband had help achieving the darkened look.
“They’re all natural. I’ve always been jealous of those lashes,” Usha told Puck in August 2024 via a representative.
>@lapresmidi investigates whether JD Vance is wearing eyeliner and gets … an on-record response! pic.twitter.com/cjHtEmxT63
— Teddy Schleifer (@teddyschleifer) August 8, 2024
Despite her insistence, close up photos continue to fuel doubt.
When he took questions in the White House briefing room in January 2026 in the aftermath of a fatal ICE shooting in Minneapolis, cameras captured his expressive face in great detail. During his remarks, he opened his mouth wide, raised his eyebrows, and the dark outline around his upper eyes appeared unusually prominent, drawing fresh attention from social media onlookers.
A few months before that, during the October 2024 vice presidential debate with Tim Walz, something similar happened. While the candidates discussed issues, many users online spent more time looking at pictures of Vance’s face. They focused especially on the dark shading near his eyes.
Some even joked about it. “I just wish he, or his makeup artist, would teach me how [to] put my eyeliner on as well as JD. I’m so jealous how perfect his eyeliner always is,” one person wrote on X.
I just wish he, or his makeup artist, would teach me how put my eyeliner on as well as JD. I’m so jealous how perfect his eyeliner always is.
— Rebecca Pruett (@RebeccaPruett1) October 2, 2024
Rally appearances only gave people more photos to examine.
In July 2024, Vance addressed supporters at Arizona Christian University in Glendale, and several pictures were taken from below the stage. Those shots made his eyes look sharp and focused, but they also made the dark line along his eyelids much more visible.
The pattern continued into late 2025. While speaking at an airport in Allentown, Pennsylvania, he shot a side eyed glance during a pause. The eyeliner effect appeared even stronger next to his gray sideburns and salt and pepper beard. The contrast was hard to miss.
In September 2025, while speaking in North Carolina, Vance posed in front of an American flag, looking calm and focused. A closer look at the photos revealed the dark lines along his lashes.
Then in February 2026, during a nuclear cooperation event in Armenia, another close up photo made the rounds. The possible eyeliner surrounding his blue eyes was more apparent than ever.
Featured image via Political Tribune Gallery
