Vance’s Take on Controversy
Vice President JD Vance recently discussed the backlash surrounding Sydney Sweeney’s advertisement for American Eagle jeans, urging liberals to continue their critique. “My political advice to the Democrats is continue to tell everybody who thinks Sydney Sweeney is attractive is a Nazi,” he quipped on a recent episode of the conservative podcast “Ruthless.”
Reflections on Democratic Strategy
Vance elaborated on the dynamics at play, suggesting that the outrage from some Democrats reveals a deeper disconnect. “You have, like, a normal all-American beautiful girl doing like a normal jeans ad,” he pointed out. He questioned whether Democrats have learned anything from the outcomes of the November 2024 elections. “I actually thought that one of the lessons [Democrats] 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,” he stated.
Ads Spark Online Debate
The advertisement campaign featuring Sweeney has ignited a heated online debate among critics who perceive a eugenicist undertone from the play on words between “genes” and “jeans.” Some have accused the campaign of promoting a racially charged narrative that idealizes her white heritage. However, CNN White House producer Alejandra Jaramillo noted that “no prominent Democratic Party leaders or officials have commented on the ad.”
In one memorable part of the ad, Sweeney states, “Genes are passed down from parents to offspring,” before turning to say, “My jeans are blue.” In another segment, she poses next to a billboard that reads, “Sydney Sweeney has great genes”; the billboard later shows the word “genes” crossed out and replaced with “jeans.”
Response from the White House
Earlier this week, White House spokesman Steve Cheung criticized the backlash as an example of “cancel culture run amok.” He commented, “This warped, moronic and dense liberal thinking is a big reason why Americans voted the way they did in 2024. They’re tired of this bullshit,” accompanying his remarks with a screenshot of an MSNBC opinion piece titled “Sydney Sweeney’s ad shows an unbridled cultural shift toward whiteness.”
