'Bullying needs to stop' says beauty pageant winner after JD Vance refuses to apologize

David Badash
30 August 2024

U.S. Senator JD Vance, the Republican nominee for Vice President, is refusing to apologize to a former Miss South Carolina Teen USA after using a clip of her infamous response to a question that went viral as an attack on Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic Presidential nominee. When told that Caitlin (Caite) Upton had once contemplated suicide for the mocking she had been subjected to over that video, and asked if he would like to apologize, the Republican from Ohio said, "I'm not going to apologize."

Upton later posted a statement (below) that in part reads, "online bullying needs to stop."

On Thursday, ahead of CNN's interview with Vice President Harris, Vance posted to social media the clip of Upton from the 2007 Miss Teen USA beauty pageant.

"BREAKING: I have gotten ahold of the full Kamala Harris CNN interview,” Sen. Vance mockingly wrote in what is being called a "sexist dig."

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On Friday, CNN's John Berman told Vance that Upton "had, you know, she struggled answering a question back in this beauty pageant. I'm not sure you're aware, in 2015 Caitlin Upton did an interview in New York Magazine about all the social media attention this clip got, and she said, 'I definitely went through a period where I was very, very depressed, but I never let anybody see that stuff, except for people I could trust. I had some very dark moments where I thought about committing suicide.' So when you posted this last night, were you aware that the woman you were posting a picture of had contemplated committing suicide for the attention it received?"

"No," Vance replied, "certainly not John, and my heart goes out to her, and I hope that she's doing well. Look, I've said a lot of things on camera. I've said a lot of stupid things on camera. Sometimes, when you're in the public eye, you make mistakes, and again, I think the best way to deal with it is to laugh at ourselves, laugh at this stuff, and try to have some fun in politics."

After lamenting they were not discussing policy, Vance said, "there's nothing that says that we can't tell some jokes along the way while we deal with the very serious business of bringing back our public policy."

He then complained, "Politics has gotten way too lame, John, way too boring. You can have some fun while making a good argument to the American people about how you're going to improve their lives."

Berman revisited his question, stating, "Okay, I just want to be clear, though you said you didn't know. Would you like to apologize to Caitlin up there for posting that last night, given what you've now learned, John?"

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After a slight pause, Vance replied, "I'm not going to apologize for posting a joke, but I wish the best for Caitlin. I hope that she's doing well. and again, what I'd say is one bad moment shouldn't define anybody. And the best way to deal with this stuff is to laugh at ourselves."

What Berman did not mention is that Caite Upton appears to be a MAGA supporter who, after her infamous answer, reportedly signed a lucrative contract with Donald Trump's modeling agency.

At some point between Vance's post and Friday morning, Upton set her Instagram account to private. But Friday morning on X she wrote: "It’s a shame that 17 years later this is still being brought up. There’s not too much else to say about it at this point. Regardless of political beliefs, one thing I do know is that social media and online bullying needs to stop."

Watch Vance's remarks below or at this link.

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