Former miss teen USA contestant rebukes Vance for using her flub to attack Harris

Sen. J D Vance, R-Ohio, who since becoming former President Donald Trump’s running mate in July has been criticized on several occasions for comments demeaning women, found himself again embroiled in controversy this past week when he used a viral clip of a beauty pageant contestant’s meltdown to attack Vice President Kamala Harris.

On Thursday, Vance shared a video clip from the 2007 Miss Teen USA competition in which Caite Upton, who was representing South Carolina, gave a mangled answer to a question about why many Americans could not locate the United States on a map.

“BREAKING: I have gotten ahold of the full Kamala Harris CNN interview,” Vance wrote on the social platform X.

That evening, CNN was set to broadcast the first major interview with Harris as the Democratic presidential nominee. Trump’s son Donald Trump Jr. quickly reposted Vance’s post, writing: “This is total Fake News from JD. We all know that Kamala isn’t that articulate.”

In a social media post Friday, Upton objected to Vance’s dredging up the 17-year-old clip of her pageant struggles, remarks that were reported by The Post and Courier of Charleston, South Carolina, and later deleted, after she appeared to have deactivated her account on X.

“Regardless of political beliefs, one thing I do know is that social media and online bullying needs to stop,” she wrote, according to the newspaper.

A representative for Upton, who competed in the pageant under the name Lauren Caitlin Upton, did not immediately respond to a request for comment Saturday.

In 2015, Upton told New York magazine that the embarrassment she felt over the viral video had led to depression and thoughts of suicide.

When Vance was asked whether he had been aware of Upton’s mental health challenges during an appearance on CNN on Friday, he said that he had not at the time he posted the clip.

“My heart goes out to her, and I hope that she’s doing well,” he said.

Asked whether he wanted to apologize, Vance said he did not have regrets.

“Politics has gotten way too lame,” he said, adding, “I’m not going to apologize for posting a joke, but I wish the best for Caitlin.”