'Online bullying needs to stop': Trump backer Caite Upton slams JD Vance for using her to mock Kamala Harris

• been hit with couch memes based on a baseless viral tweet (and ended up making the situation worse at a rally in Nevada)
• failed to draw in significant crowds to campaign events
• had to address accusations that he’s “weird”
• had alleged drag queen photos circulate online
• made an awkward ‘Swiss cheese’ related blunder
• had a cringe-inducing encounter at a deli
• mocked Democratic candidate Kamala Harris’s use of a teleprompter, only to eat his words moments later
• made a terrible appearance on CNN

And crikey, we’ve still got just over two months to go until the day of the big vote.

Now, in his latest embarrassing gaffe, Vance has compared Harris’s first interview as a presidential candidate following the Democratic National Convention - on CNN - to a viral moment during an ex-Miss Teen USA pageant in 2007, in which Miss South Carolina contestant Caite Upton responded to a question about why a fifth of Americans couldn’t identify the US on a map of the world.

Upton says: “I personally believe that US Americans are unable to do so because some people out there in our nation don’t have maps.

“I believe that our education such as South Africa and Iraq and everywhere like such as, and I believe that they should, our education over here in the US should help the US, should help South Africa and should help Iraq and the Asian countries, so we will be able to build up our future."

Vance probably thought this was a particularly brutal dig on his political opponent – except Upton has previously made it clear that she is a Trump supporter, as social media users were quick to point out:

Vance has also been accused of “rank misogyny” over the post, not least given Upton has spoken about contemplating suicide after the clip from the contest went viral:

Upton has since responded to Vance’s tweet, writing on her own Twitter/X account that it is a “shame” the incident is still being referenced 17 years later.

“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,” she wrote.

In an interview with CNN, during which Vance was presented with a quote from Upton about the impact going viral had on her and asked if he would say sorry to her, the vice presidential candidate said he was "not going to apologise for posting a joke".

Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter

How to join the indy100's free WhatsApp channel

Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.