J.D. Vance Mocked for CPAC Rant About ‘War on Masculinity’

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Amanda Austin
February 23, 2025
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(Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Vice President J.D. Vance sparked controversy on Thursday at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) when he lamented that men are supposedly no longer allowed to drink beer and tell jokes.

“Our culture sends a message to young men that you should suppress every masculine urge,” Vance claimed, without citing any evidence. “My message to young men is don’t allow this broken culture to send you a message that you’re a bad person because you’re a man because you like to tell a joke, because you like to have a beer with your friends.”

The remarks were met with widespread ridicule on the social media platform BlueSky, where users mocked Vance’s assertions and questioned his own embodiment of masculinity. “Has there ever been a more estrogen-filled dough boy crying about masculinity than this dummy?” asked BlueSky user John Reidy.

“He’s the guy who gets swatted with a hat in an old sitcom, not the arbiter of how to be a man.” “The only remotely masculine thing about Vance is the astroturf on his face,” joked Matt Szafranski.

JD Vance — Photo: Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

Dan O’Sullivan added to the criticism, writing, “There’s nothing quite so old-school masculine as the guy who looks like one of the reclining space travelers in Wall-E who has never cleared up whether he wears smoky eyeliner wherever he goes.”

Others questioned the reality of Vance’s claim that men are being shamed for drinking beer and telling jokes. “All this guy does is cry in public about things he made up in his head,” wrote the pseudonymous account Internet Hippo.

Has there ever been a more estrogen filled dough boy crying about masculinity than this dummy? He's the guy who gets swatted with a hat in an old sitcom, not the arbiter of how to be a man.
— A candy covered clown they call the Sandman (@johnreidy.bsky.social) 2025-02-20T17:01:37.037Z

“It’s so funny how the right’s concept of masculinity has shifted from Hollywood cowboy bulls–t to constantly whining about imagined grievances in the Trump era,” added Shayne Mathis. University of Michigan professor Don Moynihan joined in on the satire, writing, “Was in a bar the other day, enjoying a beer with my friend, when the Woke Police arrested us.”

The only remotely masculine thing about Vance is the astroturf on his face.
— Matt Szafranski (@mszafranski.bsky.social) 2025-02-20T16:52:27.354Z

Vance’s remarks have fueled debate over conservative portrayals of masculinity, with many critics arguing that his rhetoric reflects a culture of grievance rather than a substantive concern about men’s roles in society.