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J.D. Vance came under fire on X (formerly known as Twitter) for using a clip of a former Miss Teen USA contestant for his own purposes. Vice President J.D. Vance often uses the platform to comment on matters, especially when he was campaigning with Trump.<\/strong><\/p>\n However, one of his posts caused him to be under a lot of fire, but he refused to back down. He held his own against criticism.<\/strong><\/p>\n Keep reading to learn more about what transpired.<\/strong><\/p>\n Before he was elected,\u00a0J.D. Vance\u00a0was very vocal on social media. For instance, he used a clip of a 2007 Miss Teen USA contestant to poke fun of the Democratic presidential candidate at the time, Kamala Harris. However, his joke did not go down well with people, who quickly pointed out how the entire experience had been traumatizing for the teen contestant in the clip, Caitlin Upton.<\/p>\n Because of the backlash and humiliation she had faced due to the clip, she had even contemplated suicide, a fact many people pointed out to Vance at the time. The moment that occurred in 2007 had been wiped from public consciousness, however, Vance\u00a0reposting\u00a0the clip during his 2024 campaigning, reminded people of the entire thing once again.<\/p>\n In a subsequent interview with CNN, J.D. Vance clarified that he did not realize that Upton had struggled with the ridicule she faced due to the videos and that it had affected her mental health to the point she considered suicide. However, he said, he still will not apologize for sharing the clip.<\/p>\n When he shared the video, he\u00a0wrote\u00a0along with it, \u201cBREAKING: I have gotten ahold of the full Kamala Harris CNN interview.\u201d<\/p>\n In the video, Caitlin Upton is seen answering the question, \u201cRecent polls have shown a fifth of Americans can\u2019t locate the U.S. on a world map. Why do you think this is?\u201d<\/p>\n The young contestant struggled to answer the question, leading her to ramble and fail to give a coherent answer. The moment went viral and later Upton\u00a0spoke\u00a0about how it impacted her life. She said, \u201clost a lot of close friends over it\u201d as well as being on the receiving end of \u201cthe harshest, meanest comments I had ever heard.\u201d<\/p>\n She shared that at one point someone even \u201cgo die for your stupidity.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI definitely went through a period where I was very, very depressed. But I never let anybody see that stuff, except for people I could trust. I had some very dark moments where I thought about committing suicide,\u201d she shared.<\/p>\n One person replied to J.D. Vance, saying, \u201cYou forced former Miss South Carolina to relive public humiliation, bullying and cruelty that once lead her to consider suicide.\u201d<\/p>\n Others reminded Vance how Upton had supported\u00a0Donald Trump\u00a0in the past and he still chose to make fun of her.<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019re making fun of her? It seems very on brand for you to send a message like this to women.\u201d<\/p>\n The post has now been deleted but Upton commented on how it made her feel to see it reshared, \u201cIt\u2019s a shame that 17 years later this is still being brought up,\u201d she wrote, according to\u00a0Deadline. \u201cThere\u2019s not too much else to say about it at this point. Regardless of political beliefs, one thing I do know is that social media and online\u00a0bullying\u00a0needs to stop.\u201d<\/p>\n In an interview with CNN, Vance said he hopes Upton is doing well but refused to apologize for sharing the video. He said, \u201cPolitics has got way too lame,\u201d and \u201cI\u2019m not going to apologize for posting a joke.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou can have some fun while making an argument to the American people about improving their lives,\u201d Vance shared his beliefs, adding how he himself has \u201csaid a lot of stupid things on camera\u201d but \u201cthe best way to deal with it is to laugh at ourselves.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m not going to apologize for posting a joke, but I wish the best for Caitlin,\u201d he said decidedly in his interview. \u201cI hope that she\u2019s doing well. And again, what I\u2019d say is, one bad moment shouldn\u2019t define anybody, and the best way to deal with this stuff is to laugh at ourselves.\u201d<\/p>\n What do you think of J.D. Vance refusing to apologize for using a video that offended some people? Let us know in the comments. Share this with others to see what they think.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n