Former Miss Teen beauty queen slams JD Vance for mocking her

'The U.S., uh, should help South Africa and should help Iraq and the Asian countries, so we will be able to build up our future'

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Published Sep 03, 2024  •  3 minute read

Miss Teen USA runner up Lauren Caitlin Upton arrives for the 2007 MTV Video Music Awards at the Palms Casino in Las Vegas. Photo by ROBYN BECK /Getty Images

Former Miss Teen USA contestant Caitlin Upton says JD Vance’s attempt to troll Kamala Harris’ CNN interview by using an embarrassing clip is “a shame.”

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Last week, Vance revived an infamous clip of Upton flubbing an answer at the beauty contest back in 2007 and captioned it, “I have gotten ahold of the full Kamala Harris CNN interview.”

During a segment at the pageant, Upton made headlines after stumbling over her words as she tried to answer the question: “Recent polls have shown a fifth of Americans can’t locate the U.S. on a world map. Why do you think this is?”

“I personally believe that U.S. Americans are unable to do so because, um, some people out there in our nation don’t have maps and, uh, I believe that our, uh, education like such as, uh, South Africa and, uh, the Iraq and everywhere like such as, and I believe that they should, uh, our education over here in the U.S. should help the U.S., uh, should help South Africa and should help Iraq and the Asian countries, so we will be able to build up our future,” a flummoxed Upton responded.

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Vance posted the old clip on X and wrote: “BREAKING: I have gotten ahold of the full Kamala Harris CNN interview.”

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After the post went viral with over 15 million views and 118,000 likes on X, Upton fired back in a message accusing Vance of being a bully.

“It’s a shame that 17 years later this is still being brought up,” Upton wrote in a now-deleted message, according to Deadline. “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.”

Miss Teen USA runner up Lauren Caitlin Upton seen in a 2007 file photo. Photo by Getty Images

With social media in its infancy back in 2007, Upton, who went on to appear on a season of The Amazing Race, has previously said that she dealt with depression and suicidal thoughts following her headline-making flub. In 2015, she told New York magazine that she “went through a period where I was very, very depressed.”

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“I definitely went through a period where I was very, very depressed. But I never let anybody see that stuff, except for people I could trust. I had some very dark moments where I thought about committing suicide,” she told the publication. “It was awful, and it was every single day for a good two years.”

When Vance appeared on CNN in the aftermath, morning anchor John Berman asked the Republican vice-presidential candidate if he knew about Upton’s private struggles after her very public bungle.

“No certainly not, and my heart goes out to her and I hope she’s doing well,” Vance replied.

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But Vance said his meme wasn’t a big deal and encouraged Upton to just shake it off.

“Look, I’ve said a lot of things on camera; I’ve said a lot of stupid things on camera,” the Ohio senator said. “Sometimes when you’re in the public eye, you make mistakes. And again, I think the best way to deal with it is to laugh at ourselves, laugh at this stuff and try to have some fun in politics.”

Vance also said he wouldn’t apologize for his joke, telling Berman: “I’m not going to apologize for posting a joke, but I wish the best for Caitlin … What I’d say is, one bad moment shouldn’t define anybody, and the best way to deal with this stuff is to laugh at ourselves.”

He added that “politics has gotten way too lame” and “way too boring,” adding, “You can have some fun while making a good argument to the American people about how you’re going to improve their lives.” 

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