JD Vance is sounding off about the somehow-still-going controversy surrounding Sydney Sweeney‘s American Eagle jeans ad.
The vice president appeared on Friday’s episode of the Ruthless podcast — a new discussion program hosted by Republican staffers — and was asked about the uproar over the Euphoria star’s sultry ad, which makes a play on words comparing the sex symbol’s “genes” with the word “jeans.” The ad has been slammed by some online as a Nazi-like pro-eugenics racist propaganda, while others have cheered the company and actress for refusing to apologize in the wake of social media outrage, which many view as a bad-faith take on something that’s meant to be playful.
“My political advice to the Democrats is continue to tell everybody who thinks Sydney Sweeney is attractive is a Nazi,” he said. “That appears to be their actual strategy. I mean, it actually reveals something pretty interesting about the Dems though, which is that you have a normal all-American beautiful girl doing like a normal jeans ad. They’re trying to sell jeans to kids in America and they have managed to so unhinge themselves over this thing. And it’s like, you guys, did you learn nothing from the November 2024 election?”
Concluded Vance: “I actually thought that one of the lessons they might take is ‘we’re going to be less crazy.’ And the lesson they have apparently taken is we’re going to attack people as Nazis for thinking Sydney Sweeney is beautiful. Great strategy, guys! That’s how you’re going to win the midterm! Especially [with] young American men. So much of the Democrats is oriented around hostility to basic American life. So you have a pretty girl doing a jeans ad and they can’t help but freak out. It reveals a lot more about them than it does us.”
While Vance’s comments were targeted towards Democratic leaders who want to win the midterm elections, CNN noted in its coverage, “No prominent Democratic Party leaders or officials have commented on the ad.” So it seem like Vance is taking generic progressive online uproar and trying to attach it to elected officials who haven’t actually said such things.
Earlier this week, The Late Show host Stephen Colbert also weighed in on the ad, with comments that suggested people protesting the ad might have overstepped a bit.
“I don’t want to alarm you, but the internet is mad about something,” Colbert said. “This time, it’s a commercial from American Eagle Outfitters starring Sydney Sweeney … Just like Sydney Sweeney, I also carry the gene for sexy commercial scratchy voice. I get it from my uncle on my mother’s side … Now, some people look at this and they’re seeing something sinister, saying that the genes-jeans denim wordplay in an ad featuring a white blond woman means American Eagle could be promoting eugenics, white supremacy and Nazi propaganda. That might be a bit of an overreaction — although Hitler did briefly model for Mein Kampfort Fit Jeans.” Colbert added: “How do you say ‘badonk’ in German?”
Neither American Eagle nor Sweeney have commented on the backlash.