JD Vance and His X Followers

In October, I wrote a blog post about Vice President and reply guy JD Vance in which I described how almost everything about Vance is fake. He is not and never has been a hillbilly, "JD Vance" is either the third or fourth iteration of his name depending on how you count, and he was originally a Trump opponent (once even referring to Trump as "America's Hitler") before transitioning into a MAGA supporter of Trump. In that post, I dubbed Vance a "reply guy," which is "an internet slang term for someone who excessively responds to social media posts, often in an annoying, condescending, or overly familiar or flirtatious manner." Vance may, thankfully, avoid the flirtatious manner characteristic, but the rest fits him to a T. Vance so thoroughly represents someone who is deeply embedded in a social media bubble that I wondered what his social media influences might be. I then looked through the accounts that he follows. The result, let's say, was not surprising. Vance almost exclusively follows far-right accounts, some of which are very troubling.

Vance publicly uses two X accounts. One is his personal account “@JDVance," and the other is the Vice President's account "@VP". The "@VP" account follows just 22 accounts, all of whom are directly connected to the administration. Considerably more interesting is his "@JDVance" account that he created in June 2013. On that account, Vance follows 1,149 other X users. Unfortunately, I could not get either the X web application or the client program to display the full list of 1,149 accounts. So, I relied on the list that I could see as well as media reports that have covered accounts that Vance follows. The list of who Vance follows provides an interesting look at the social media bubble in which he lives.

In a recent interview published by Vanity Fair, White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles was quoted as saying that Vance has been "a conspiracy theorist for a decade." The accounts that Vance follows on X reflect this. One of the first accounts appearing in the list of accounts that Vance follows is that of Miranda Devine. Devine is an Australian-American who has spread conspiracy theories in both Australia and the United States. For instance, in Australia, she accused an Indigenous boy who suffers from achondroplasia dwarfism of faking a video in which he was crying due to bullying. She further alleged that he was actually an adult actor. After the boy's mother initiated legal action, Devine apologized and paid a $200,000 settlement. In the U.S., Devine is an avid purveyor of the claim by cult leader, convicted felon, and failed President Donald Trump that his loss in 2020 was driven by large-scale electoral fraud. This is the sort of account that our Vice President feels is worthy to follow.

The rather doughy Vance inexplicably follows a number of fitness-related accounts. A phenomenon that has developed over the last few years is the growth of Internet personalities that blend "manosphere" narratives with right-wing politics and fitness. One such account that Vance follows is that of the "Hodgetwins", a comedy duo that also champions fitness and engages in political commentary. They were once banned from a comedy venue after posting a video making fun of a transgender woman. Vance follows "Raw Egg Nationalist", who posts about bodybuilding and nutrition. According to The Independent, the "account has shared Adolf Hitler memes, quoted Mein Kampf and promoted the ‘Great Replacement’ conspiracy — a theory positing that Western elites are intentionally replacing White populations with migrants." Vance also follows "Bronze Age Pervert," another bodybuilding account that has promoted the racist Great Replacement theory and eugenics.

Not surprisingly, Vance follows Curtis Yarvin, a co-founder of the anti-democratic Dark Enlightenment movement. Vance is known to have been heavily influenced by Yarvin. Yarvin believes that American democracy is a failed experiment and should be replaced by a monarchy structured like a corporation. Yarvin also believes that certain races are naturally inclined towards servitude more than others and has argued that whites have inherently higher IQs than other races.

Similarly, Vance follows "Crémieux", the account of Jordan Lasker, who is a leading "race scientist" who believes that there is a genetic relationship between race and intelligence. Lasker is a proponent of eugenics and has argued that Africans have lower IQs than Europeans and Asians.

In 2024, the New Republic wrote about Vance following a controversial Hitler apologist. That account is "@MartyrMade", which belongs to Darryl Cooper. Cooper is a Holocaust revisionist and has suggested that the genocide was an unplanned side effect of wartime chaos. Cooper has also defended Hitler and argued that Winston Churchill, rather than Hitler, was the chief villain of World War II. Even after this report, Vance continues to follow Cooper

Vance also follows all-around crazy person Laura Loomer. Loomer is a "proud Islamophobe" who routinely attacks Muslims and spreads unverified rumors. For the record, I also follow Loomer, but Loomer is an outlier among those I follow. For Vance, she fits a pattern.

Vance follows both Andrew and Tristan Tate. Andrew Tate is a leading personality in the "manosphere" and has been charged with rape multiple times as well as human trafficking. Tristan has also been charged with rape and human trafficking. It is not clear whether Vance follows this duo because he is interested in kickboxing or finds rape and human trafficking to be compelling topics. 

As I can attest myself, following someone on social media does not mean that you agree with that person's views. For instance, I follow Vance on Bluesky and there is almost nothing upon which I agree with him. However, in Vance's case, his social media does suggest that he is tightly embedded in a right-wing bubble and his publicly stated views often reflect the ideas of those he follows. Is there any surprise that someone who follows a number of "manosphere" personalities might criticize unmarried women as "childless cat ladies?" Similarly, it is completely consistent that a follower of multiple race scientists who consider Africans and other Black people to have lower IQs might falsely accuse Haitian immigrants of eating pet cats and dogs. Even after media attention to Vance's following Hitler apologists and Holocaust deniers, he has continued to follow such individuals. This should be a major controversy, not something that only gets attention on a small local parenting blog. Our Vice President appears to be quite comfortable with individuals who reject democracy and favor authoritarian governments based on a racial hierarchy. Maybe this should get a little more media coverage?