The Wildest JD Vance Rumors, Debunked

It was quite a surprise when Donald Trump announced JD Vance as his left-field VP pick. Few people saw it coming, largely because the senator was not widely recognized at the time, even in his home state of Ohio. Unfortunately, Vance turned out to have a sketchy backstory and has quickly gained a reputation for his archaic views that border on extremism.

This has made him an easy target for ridiculously wild rumors that take off like wildfire. While Republicans were yet basking in the spotlight of Vance's arrival on June 15, 2024, one X user, rickrudescalves, posted a tweet claiming that JD Vance had sexual intercourse with a couch and had written about it in his best-selling memoir, "Hillbilly Elegy." This tweet went viral, and before fact-checkers could get involved, half of the internet seemed convinced that the senator was attracted to couches.

In reality, the pages quoted in the post do not contain any sexual content whatsoever. The tweet has since been deleted (with the X user's posts restricted), but JD Vance has yet to shake off the stigma of his alleged objectophilia. And though he invites some of this scrutiny by virtue of putting himself in the public spotlight, we've taken it upon ourselves to debunk some of the misinformation about him. 

With JD Vance as a relative newbie in the Trump scene, many political commentators began snooping into his past. And although speculating about anyone's weight is never classy, social media users began to conclude that Vance, like many other celebs, was shedding weight thanks to Ozempic, the viral diabetes-turned-weight-loss drug.

One X user, @reedgalen, directly shared the accusation in a July 26 post, quoting a video of Vance critiquing the food choices at an event in Radford, Virginia: "What's the dosage on his Ozempic?"

By the beginning of August, the topic was so loudly discussed that the Daily Mail asked Vance directly in an interview if he was taking any medication to get a trimmer figure. After firmly denying it, he explained that he's been on a mission to get healthier ever since he found that playing with his kids made him breathless. "I tend to skip breakfast, whereas before, I would have, like, you know, three waffles and scrambled eggs and bacon." While this denial doesn't technically count as proof, there is no evidence that JD Vance is actually on Ozempic.

Another popular rumor claims that JD Vance intentionally searched out sexual content involving a dolphin and a woman — then posted it on social media. However, this claim isn't exactly true and leaves out important context. On February 17, 2024, the VP hopeful shared a tweet showing a screenshot of a video captioned by the original poster, "Woman gets vio***ed by a dolphin and enjoys it." Vance's caption read: "Maybe the internet was a mistake."

Maybe the internet was a mistake pic.twitter.com/vom6c25HfJ

— JD Vance (@JDVance) February 17, 2024

Although his caption clearly showed his disapproval of the disturbing content, eagle-eyed social media users pointed out that "woman" and "dolphin" were bolded, suggesting Vance had searched for those terms. However, this doesn't prove he found the video by searching. It's quite possible that he came across the video, lost it, and searched for it again to share the post.

Right from JD Vance's first public appearance alongside Donald Trump, his long lashes had Americans obsessed. And as expected, the internet went wild with theories about the secret to his luscious gaze, with several users claiming it was purely the work of mascara or eyeliner.

However, The List contacted a pro artist to weigh in on whether or not JD Vance uses eye makeup. It turns out that while he might wear makeup on camera, as on-air personalities typically do, these products aren't responsible for his striking eyes. To validate this, we snooped and checked out pictures of JD as a teenager, in the Marine Corps, and even during his anti-Trump days. Consequently, we can confirm that he has always had hooded blue eyes that look like they've been touched with eyeliner.

Additionally, Puck News, an online media outlet, reached out to his wife, Usha Vance, to solve the mystery. In a written response, she stated that JD was simply blessed with piercing eyes. "They're all natural. I've always been jealous of those lashes" (via X).

In July, a report of JD Vance's Venmo friend list went viral because it included some controversial names. Per Wired, some of the notable people on the list included Amalia Halikias, credited as one of the contributors to Project 2025, the extremist right-wing initiative created by a group of conservative American bigwigs. It didn't take long for social media users to begin implying that these individuals were people with whom Vance had financial transactions. 

Unlike Donald Trump, JD Vance's name is not explicitly mentioned in the 922-page Project 2025 agenda, making this accusation quite serious. However, being "Venmo friends" doesn't necessitate any exchange of money; it just means you're connected on the platform. It's worth noting that this doesn't prove JD Vance isn't involved in Project 2025. It only means that JD Vance's Venmo list did not display any proof of financial transactions with anyone.

One of the most popular rumors about JD Vance claims that he has changed his name three times. According to several X users, he was born James Donald Bowman, changed his middle name to David, then changed his first and last names to Jimmy Hamel, and finally became JD Vance. However, this claim isn't entirely true. "Hillbilly Elegy" actually reveals why JD Vance's name has changed so many times. His first name change from James Donald Bowman to James David Hamel occurred when he was just a child, thanks to his mother's remarriage.

His next edit was to change his last name from Hamel to Vance to honor his grandparents, since his stepfather split from his mother. JD Vance's full name is legally James David Vance, which should technically be written as J.D. Vance. But in a final edit, the senator requested that the periods be removed, dubbing him JD Vance.

The only weird part of this story is the fact that JD Vance lied about his name-changing journey, according to his own media representative, Taylor Van Kirk (via AP News). While his bestselling memoir claims that he and his wife took his grandparents' name during their wedding, Kirk asserts that the senator changed his name during his time at Yale. So, while JD Vance didn't change his name in the way the viral posts claim he did, he has indeed altered his name three times.