JD Vance asked if his name is 'Sofa Loren' after alleged drag queen photos emerge

JD Vance has been asked if his drag name is Sofa Loren after photos emerged showing him dressed as a drag queen.

Vance was selected by former president Donald Trump to be his running mate in the upcoming November presidential election. Since the Republican’s selection, a whole host of bizarre memes and moments have come to the surface, not least the allegation (hilarious, though unfounded), that Vance had sexual relations with a couch.

The couch gags have since come in from all quarters, including from Tim Walz, who was selected by the Democratic nominee Vice President Kamala Harris as her running mate.

On Sunday (11 August) an image of a man who looks like Vance dressed in drag started to spread on X/Twitter. The picture began to trend with the hashtag “#SofaLoren” – a reference to the couch rumour, combined with the name of the famous Italian actress Sophia Loren.

It appeared to show a man dressed in a blonde wig, wearing a large necklace and a floral skirt.

The source of the image was a person named Travis Whitfill, who claimed it was taken by a Yale student in 2012 – the same time period in which Vance was attending law school at the university.

Whitfill sent the image to podcast host Matt Bernstein who shared it on social media. Bernstein wrote: “I have obtained a photo of JD Vance in drag while at Yale Law School.”

“It’s from a group chat of Vance’s fellow classmates and is from a friend of a friend,” the Daily Beast was told. “I believe it was grabbed from Facebook and was taken at a Halloween party.”

A Republican party spokesperson did not deny that the image was Vance, nor did they deny the photo’s authenticity.

It comes as the Republican Ohio senator introduced the “Protect Children’s Innocence Act”, which aims to criminalise facilities that provide gender-affirming care to children. He also labelled opponents of the controversial “Don’t Say Gay” bill “groomers”.

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