Vice President JD Vance has unexpectedly become a target of the internet’s meme culture – and has shared his thoughts on the craze.
What began as a niche joke among social media users has now snowballed, turning Vance’s facial characteristics into memes so exaggerated that some users claim they’ve forgotten what the real vice president even looks like.
The Vice President’s face has appeared stretched, shrunk, rounded, and distorted in all manner of ways as fans and critics share their views, make light of recent events or share their views.
And now, Vance himself has spoken.
‘I can confirm VP Vance has seen many of the memes/edits of his pictures and thinks it’s a funny trend,’ journalist Julio Rosas of The Blaze reported on X after traveling with him.
The viral images range from Vance as a baby-faced cherub clutching a lollipop, to a brooding emo rocker, to an absurdly plump version of himself saying, ‘You have to say pwease and tank you, Mistow Zensky.’
The meme-fueled frenzy erupted following Vance’s Oval Office heated exchange with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky last Friday.
During the meeting Vance demanded, ‘Have you said thank you once?’
What started as a simple parody of Vance’s aggressive questioning quickly spiraled into an out-of-control internet meme.
A niche joke among social media users has now snowballed turning Vance into dozens of memes
The Vice President’s face has been stretched, shrunk, rounded, and distorted in all manner of ways
The memes began following Friday’s explosive showdown in the Oval Office with Trump, Vance and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky
Creative users began editing his image, expanding his cheeks, shrinking his eyes, and inserting him into bizarre pop culture references with everything from Minions to Pennywise the Clown.
There were also some more surreal versions include Vance as a Teletubby, a sentient lollipop, and even the Las Vegas Sphere.
The ‘Pwease’ meme, a play on the vice president’s perceived petulance, has gained such traction that he is now often referred to online as ‘the Pwease Guy.’
As memes flooded social media, one user remarked, ‘Twitter is f***ing unusable. I’m trying to get updates on whether World War 3 is on but all I’m seeing are fat JD Vance memes.’
Another wrote, ‘I have completely forgotten what the real JD Vance looks like at this point,’ posting a photo of a chubby Vance with flowing curls.
The sheer breadth of the meme’s appeal is striking. While political memes typically remain confined to partisan echo chambers, this particular trend has managed to unite people across the political spectrum.
Journalist Julio Rosas of The Blaze reported on X after traveling with JD Vance that he had in fact seen many of the memes and ‘thinks it’s a funny trend’
Many of the memes mocked Vance for asking President Zelensky if he had said ‘thank you’
Vance has seen many of the memes/edits of his pictures and thinks it’s a funny trend according to a reporting traveling with him
One user claimed to not being able to remember what VP Vance looked like anymore
Many of the memes mocked Vance asking Zelensky if he has said thank you
Friday’s Oval Office exchange kicked off the explosion in Vance memes
Left-leaning users see it as a way to mock the vice president’s loyalty to Trump and his perceived hostility toward Ukraine, while some on the right, particularly within meme-heavy conservative circles, seem to be embracing the trend as an ironic badge of honor.
Vance’s response, or his lack of objection, is a smart move.
At 40 years old, he’s a millennial vice president fluent in the language of internet culture and understands that reacting too strongly to an online joke would only fuel the fire.
Vance also occasionally posted memes on X, including a reference to It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia.
‘It’s such an easy own,’ meme creator Dave McNamee told Vulture. ‘Like, this is a guy who takes himself so seriously.’
As a man in his 40s, Vance himself has been known to post memes to his X account to make a point. This meme, posted earlier this week was in relation to a suggestion that Trump/Vance was siding with Russia and Putin over Ukraine and Zelenksy
One meme saw Vance’s head likened to that of the Las Vegas Sphere
The Oval Office exchange between Trump, Vance and Zelenksy appeared to kick off the craze
There was a lot of good natured wit in many of the memes
This meme of Vance looking like a Minion racked up 4 million views alone
Creative users began editing his image, expanding his cheeks, shrinking his eyes, and inserting him into bizarre pop culture references
According to McNamee, part of what makes the meme so potent is that it juxtaposes Vance’s self-serious political persona with an exaggerated, childish version of himself, undermining his authority.
One of the altered Vance images has even been turned into a cryptocurrency token, briefly reaching a market cap of $20 million.
‘I cannot tell you how disgusted and weird the whole thing has made me feel,’ McNamee said.
One user felt very satisfied with people’s efforts: ‘The best thing about this photo is that we know for a fact that Vance is terminally online enough to have seen it.’