Vice President JD Vance is becoming part of the cultural zeitgeist.
His edited face, plastered on everything from Hollywood movie posters to iconic paintings and classic memes, flooded social media algorithms. And Vance knows. In fact, he finds it humorous, too.
He posted a photo of his face edited onto Leonardo DiCaprio’s body from “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.”
The character, Rick Dalton, pointed at the television while holding a drink, suggesting Vance is in on the viral joke.
Sen. Mike Lee commented with an enthusiastic “Yes!!!”
It’s not uncommon for political figureheads to embrace the internet culture. Former President Joe Biden’s alter ego was known as “Dark Brandon,” deployed to energize voters during the 2024 election. Former Vice President Kamala Harris’s campaign became all about coconuts, “brat summer” and good vibes.
President Donald Trump also knows how to work the virtual townsquare — during the election, he got a photo op in a garbage truck and told his supporters that the vehicle was in honor of his political opponents. It was an instant hit.
But none of them directly interacted with the memes about them. This is where Vance’s age served as an advantage, allowing him to tap into the psyche of hyper online Americans.
At 40, Vance is the third-youngest vice president in American history.
A reporter from The Blaze confirmed Vance knows about the memes featuring him and thinks it’s a funny trend.
The pictures began as a niche internet meme, where users put their Photoshop skills to use and stretched his cheeks to give him a baby face.
As The Atlantic reported, a user on X began first posting such an edit in October. “For every 100 likes, I will turn JD Vance into a progressively apple cheeked baby,” the post read.
But since the clash between Vance and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the Oval Office, the joke took on a new life.
“Have you said thank you once?” Vance said to Zelenskyy at the time. Again, the baby face photo appeared as Social media users mocked Vance’s statement with baby talk, giving rise to the “Pwease” meme.
Before long, he was edited into pop star Michael Jackson, Marvel movie character Captain America, and an Oompa-Loompa from the “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,” among hundreds of other variations.
But what began as mockery quickly turned to endearing support from the right.
Utah senator shares his favorite JD Vance memes
Lee joined in on the fun, sharing his favorites from the hundreds of pictures.
“Brigham Young Vance is one of my favorite shades of JD,” wrote the Utah senator.
“Elder Vance, is that you?” he wrote in another post, where Vance, dressed like a Latter-day Saint missionary, is riding a bike.
Some of Lee’s other favorites were Van Halen Vance, Moses Vance and Nephi Vance.
Rep. Mike Collins, R-Ga., complained, “My feed is broken. I just keep seeing JD Vance.” He also shared a photo a version of Vance with a chiseled jawline, like the “Chad” meme.
There was also a long thread of Vance as former U.S. presidents.
Whether or not Democrats and Republicans can agree on government spending and the such, both sides of the aisle seem to enjoy the memes.
Jamie Cohen, an assistant professor of media studies at New York’s Queens College, explained to The Washington Post, “This is a bit of a Rorschach test for politics in general.”
“The MAGA right sees Vance as becoming torchbearer of the movement. The left sees him as a potential shill for whatever he needs to do to make himself more politically usable. And that’s how you get all these different remixes.”