Old Pic Of JD Vance Dressed As Drag Queen Goes Viral, Internet Reacts

An old photograph showing Republican vice president nominee JD Vance dressed in a skirt and blonde wig is going viral on social media. According to Newsweek, the picture was taken in 2012 by one of Mr Vance's classmates while he was studying at Yale Law School. It was subsequently sent to podcast host Matt Bernstein, who posted it on the microblogging site on Sunday. "New: I have obtained a photo of JD Vance in drag while in Yale Law School," Mr Bernstein wrote. 

Take a look below: 

Since being shared, the image has accumulated more than 18 million views. Critics were quick to react to the now-viral picture. They branded the Ohio Senator a "hypocrite" over the image due to his stance on LGBT+ issues. 

"Ladies and gentleman, a picture of JD Vance in drag while attending Yale Law School. I don't share this to shame those who do drag, but rather to shame those who attack drag while having a history of enjoying the art form themselves," wrote one user. 

"Don't call JD Vance weird because he wore drag. Call him a hypocrite and a bigot for demonizing others who wear drag," said another. 

"The thing about the JD Vance in drag thing is that we Millennials [sic] gays know precisely the type of guy he is. We all had friends who were liberal in their 20s, and once Trump came around, veered far to the right and blamed you for it," commented a third user. 

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Disgraced former congressman George Santos also weighed in on the viral photo. Speaking to TMZ, Mr Santos said, "It's so funny that people are so obsessed that someone's in drag or someone's put a wig on. In my case 18 years ago when I was a minor and nobody held back punches at something I did as a kid and had fun." 

"Now JD Vance, if that's drag then I guess all these other drag queens on Ru Paul's Drag Race can all be considered cisgender women at this point because, holy crap, is that bad drag," he continued. 

"To call that drag is disingenuous and I think most dudes at some point in their lives have played around with costumes that are gender bender. Couples do that all the time. The wife will dress up as a guy, the husband will dress up as a woman. It's definitely not drag," Mr Santos added.