A GOP Congressman Tweeted A JD Vance Image That Must Be Seen To Be Believed
People are wondering why in the world Rep. Mike Collins (R-Ga.) shared a conspicuously edited photo of Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio) on social media this morning.
Collins appeared to be in a plum mood following Vance’s Tuesday night debate against Gov. Tim Walz (D-Minn.) and took to X, formerly called Twitter, to post an image of the senator with a quick “Gm.” (That’s “good morning” for those not familiar with the abbreviation.)
Gm. pic.twitter.com/Koe8f0uhnF
— Rep. Mike Collins (@RepMikeCollins) October 2, 2024
Though the post seemed unremarkable at first glance, something about Vance’s appearance made people take a closer look.
After several netizens compared the picture to the Republican’s official Senate portrait, it was clear that the Vance in Collins’ photo was edited to have a sharper jawline and an ever-so-slight bronze in his facial hair.
The post was promptly flagged with a community note saying, “This photo has been digitally altered to change JD Vance’s appearance.”
Rep. Mike Collins, a sitting Member of Congress, either digitally altered an official photo of J.D. Vance or posted a photo he knew was digitally altered. The official photo is on the left; the digitally altered is on the right.
Good lord, these people are so weird. https://t.co/RMfkU6lM85pic.twitter.com/eGswZD9Kzt— Charlotte Clymer 🇺🇦 (@cmclymer) October 2, 2024
Though Collins was likely trying to signal Vance’s debate success with the cosmetically enhanced snapshot, the post just caused mockery and confusion instead.
Some people shared more ridiculous Vance images, while others reminded the Republican he wasn’t helping his party buck its “weird” reputation.
When asked by email where Collins found the photo and whether he knew it was edited, a spokesperson for the congressman replied with an image of Donald Trump that’s often used online to express surprise in a sarcastic or joking manner.
See the best replies to Collins below:
You’re not helping with the whole weird thing. This is super weird.
— Art Candee 🍿🥤 (@ArtCandee) October 2, 2024
— SuperTrucker 🚛→💻🥷 (@supertrucker) October 2, 2024
Its too late to delete this but you may want to just turn off your phone for a week or two. Hope this gets forgotten. Yikes.
— Aaron Meyers (@AaronMeyers) October 2, 2024
Two can play at this game my man pic.twitter.com/4vQf9BlYnx
— cute brute (@CuteBrute718) October 2, 2024
Not a serious party. Posting photoshopped pics vs feverishly working to help Americans.
Sad.— cjmmn (@ChuckCjmmn) October 2, 2024
Photoshop is not your forte.
— Dittie (@DittiePE) October 2, 2024
I mean come on, if you’re going to use filters on Vance pick something with a little more zip! pic.twitter.com/4NGqoq2mSC
— D.L. Lee, Adventurer (@PopuliThe) October 2, 2024
Nothing like a little gender-affirming Facetune 💅🏻
— Ali (@AJ_F612) October 2, 2024