Vance's Wild Week: UFOs, Sweeney Jeans, and Birthday Memes

JD Vance BioSnap a weekly updated Biography.

It has been a conspicuously lively stretch for Vice President JD Vance lately. The biggest headline, perhaps, is Vance revealing on the Ruthless podcast that he is, in his own words, “obsessed” with UFOs, sparking a new round of Beltway chatter about the vice president’s priorities and eccentricities. He confessed to hosts Josh Holmes and Michael Duncan that he intends to spend part of the August recess doing a “deep dive” into the government’s UFO data, promising to get to the bottom of what those mysterious aerial sightings might actually be. The interview, released Friday, had Vance riffing equally on the Pentagon’s secretive UFO programs, his bafflement at the unresolved sightings over New Jersey last year, and his hope that the Trump administration will prove unusually transparent—at least by D.C. standards—on the alien question. Fox News and The Times of India were quick to amplify his remarks, predictably setting social media abuzz with #VicePresidentMulder. Public reaction, as seen in the comments and memes circulating Instagram and X, has ranged from genuine curiosity to playful ribbing.

Vance was also right in the middle of the Sydney Sweeney American Eagle “jeans” row, using the same Ruthless interview to poke fun at Democrats for what he called their “strategy” of calling anyone who finds the actress attractive a Nazi. Referencing the controversy’s viral power and the left’s apparent overreaction, Vance quipped, “Great strategy, guys. That’s how you’re going to win the midterm, especially young American men.” While lampooned by some, his comments have seen steady traction online, especially among conservative influencers. American Eagle, for its part, issued a statement doubling down on their support for the campaign and Sweeney herself, as covered in The Times of India.

Vance’s name trended again with the nationwide “Rage Against the Regime” protests, as over 300 US cities staged anti-Trump demonstrations, many with a focus on Vance’s birthday, making him a symbolic lightning rod for opposition sentiment, according to Economic Times. And not to be missed—the vice president became a meme for a lighthearted moment caught at the Ohio Republican gathering, with one Instagram reel from Republic World showing him charming the crowd, while another, less flattering social moment featured him flashing a rude gesture at a Republican event, as captured by the Daily Mail. Add to that Fox Carolina’s birthday shout-outs and you have a politician riding the full spectrum of viral fame and infamy this week.

On the business front, coverage was relatively muted, though Vance very publicly praised a jobs report that Donald Trump later disparaged as a “hoax,” a split that did not go unnoticed by The New Republic, fueling whispers about potential fissures inside the administration. In short, it’s been a vintage week for JD Vance—aliens, outrage, viral quips, and a birthday cake, all in the line of vice-presidential duty.

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