Photos of U.S. Senator JD Vance dressed in drag from his time at Yale Law School in 2012 have resurfaced, sparking widespread criticism and accusations of hypocrisy. The images, which depict Vance wearing a blonde wig, a shirt, and a skirt, have reignited debate over his views and actions as a public figure. The controversy began when Matt Bernstein, a user on X (formerly known as Twitter), posted one of the photos with the caption, “new: i have obtained a photo of jd vance in drag while at yale law school.” The source of the photo was later revealed to be Travis Whitfill, an assistant professor at Yale.

Whitfill confirmed his involvement, stating, “Hi Matt, I was the source of the photo (sent through friends to you). This was taken in 2012 (the same time I was at Yale 🥴). Photo was taken by a classmate and sent to me. Thanks for sharing 😘.”In an interview with the Daily Beast, Whitfill explained that the photo came from a group chat of Vance’s classmates and likely originated from Facebook. It was taken at a Halloween party. A few days after the initial post, Bernstein shared a second image, captioning it, “a second photo has hit my inbox.”As the images circulated, they quickly became the subject of online mockery. One user joked, “Feelin’ cute. Might run for Vice President later,” while another quipped, “What better way to get on Trump’s good side than by trying to look like his Ivanka….”