An image of JD Vance, allegedly dressed as a woman and sporting a blonde wig, appeared on X (formerly Twitter) on Sunday. The unverified image quickly gained traction, trending under the hashtag #SofaLoren. This hashtag references the famous Italian actress Sophia Loren and false claims that the Republican senator had sexual relations with a couch.
When approached by the Daily Beast, a spokesperson for the Republican vice presidential candidate did not confirm the photo’s authenticity and declined to comment further.
The individual who revealed the alleged photo, Travis Whitfill, claims it was taken by a Yale classmate in 2012 while Vance was in law school at the university. Whitfill received the image from another friend and then shared it with podcast host Matt Bernstein, who posted it on X.
“It’s from a group chat of Vance’s fellow classmates and is from a friend of a friend,” Whitfill told the Daily Beast. “I believe it was grabbed from Facebook and was taken at a Halloween party.”
Whitfill also shared his role in bringing the photo to light, posting screenshots of the text conversation where he first received the image.
“I didn’t know him,” Whitfill wrote, “but 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 online commenters linked Vance’s alleged cross-dressing with his legislative actions, which have been a point of concern for LGBTQ+ advocacy groups.
The Ohio senator introduced the “Protect Children’s Innocence Act,” aimed at criminalizing medical institutions that provide gender-affirming care to minors.
Vance also supports restrictions on classroom discussions about sexual orientation and gender identity and has labeled critics of “don’t say gay” legislation as “groomers.”
