JD Vance Mocks Former Teen Beauty Pageant Contestant to Criticize Kamala Harris

Republican vice-presidential nominee JD Vance recently mocked a former beauty pageant contestant over a response she gave during the Miss Teen USA pageant back in 2007.

Caitlin Upton, the contestant in question, found herself unexpectedly criticized on Thursday by U.S. Senator JD Vance, who is also running mate to former President Donald Trump. Vance brought up her past while taking a jab at Vice President Kamala Harris in a tweet.

In 2007, as Miss South Carolina Teen USA, Upton was asked a challenging question, which required her to opine on why many Americans struggle with geography. The question posed to her was: “Recent polls have shown a fifth of Americans can’t locate the U.S. on a world map. Why do you think this is?”

Her response, which went viral at the time, was as follows:

I personally believe that U.S. Americans are unable to do so because, um, some people out there in our nation don’t have maps and, uh, I believe that our, uh, education like such as, uh, South Africa and, uh, the Iraq and everywhere like such as, and I believe that they should, uh, our education over here in the U.S. should help the U.S., uh, should help South Africa and should help Iraq and the Asian countries, so we will be able to build up our future.

Vance resurrected the 17-year-old clip and posted it on X, formerly known as Twitter. He commented, “BREAKING: I have gotten ahold of the full Kamala Harris CNN interview,” referencing CNN’s interview with Harris and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz.

The tweet was met with significant backlash. Many criticized Vance for targeting a private citizen over a response she made as a teenager. Conservative attorney and known critic of Trump, George Conway, remarked, “Apparently he doesn’t know that 52-55% of the electorate is female. Let’s not tell him.”

Source: Mediaite