On Sunday, a photo showing the Republican vice presidential nominee in a blond wig and long dress went viral on social media, in part because of its contrast to the harsh stance many in the GOP have taken against drag and the LGBTQ+ community.
The photo reportedly dates back to 2012, when Vance was a student at Yale Law School. A second photo was posted on social media Monday. While Vances campaign didnt respond to HuffPost inquiries, it didnt deny the photos were legit to The Daily Beast .
Santos, who served as a Republican U.S. representative from New York, insisted that Vance wasnt doing proper drag, he was just wearing a dress.
To call that drag is disingenuous and I think most dudes at some point in their lives have played around with costumes that are gender bender, the controversial former congressman told TMZ . Couples do that all the time. The wife will dress up as a guy, the husband will dress up as a woman. Its definitely not drag.
Advertisement
Santos, who has dressed in drag as the persona Kitara Ravache , is amused to the reaction to the viral photos which, in his eyes, are simply of a guy who went to a costume party, put on a freakin cheap wig from Party City or something similar.
Its so funny that people are so obsessed that someones in drag or someones put a wig on, he added. In my case 18 years ago when I was a minor and nobody held back punches at something I did as a kid and had fun.
As The New Republic notes, the issue for many is not the fact that Vance decided to dress in female clothing for a costume party, but his hypocrisy. Vance has made many statements against the LGBTQ+ community, including tossing around the term groomer when discussing anti-LGBTQ+ legislation. In 2023, he introduced a bill that would criminalize gender-affirming care for minors.
Advertisement
Drag queens have become a popular target for right-wing activists and politicians, with lawmakers in multiple states taking aim at events where drag performers read books to children .
But the former lawmaker didnt have nice words for Vances outfit in the photos, saying, Holy crap, is that bad drag, and adding, If thats drag, then I guess all these other drag queens on RuPauls Drag Race can all be considered cisgender women at this point.
Santos also doubted Vances running mate Donald Trump would make a big stink about the photos.
HuffPost reached out to the Vance campaign for comment on Santos defense of the photos, but no one immediately responded.
You can see Santos complete comments below.
","type":"video","meta":{"author":"TMZ","author_url":"https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCK7IIV6Q2junGSdYK3BmZMg","cache_age":86400,"description":"George Santos is defending J.D. Vance as he faces allegations of dressing up like a woman when he was in law school ... George says one thing is clear, it's definitely NOT drag.\n\nFOLLOW ALL TMZ PODCASTS: https://www.audio.tmz.com/\n\nAbout TMZ:\nTMZ has consistently been credited for breaking the biggest stories dominating the entertainment news landscape and changed the way the public gets their news. Regularly referenced by the media, TMZ is one of the most cited entertainment news sources in the world. \n\nSubscribe to TMZ on YouTube for breaking celebrity news/ gossip and insight from the newsroom staff, the best clips from TMZ on TV, Raw & Uncut TMZ video (from TMZ.com) and the latest video from TMZ Sports and TMZ Live! \n\nWe love Hollywood, we just have a funny way of showing it.\n\nNeed More TMZ?\nTMZ Website: http://tmz.me/fPrTwZt\nLIKE TMZ on Facebook! http://tmz.me/9sGB00a\nFOLLOW TMZ on Twitter! http://tmz.me/9LeeNWQ\nFOLLOW TMZ on Instagram! http://tmz.me/ep7d8Bn\nTMZ on TV & TMZ Sports on FS1 Tune In Info: http://tmz.me/ccuirUZ\nTMZ is on iOS! http://tmz.me/ecOjgiH\nTMZ is on Android! http://tmz.me/pkwieRA\n\nGot a Tip?\nContact TMZ: http://tmz.me/UsxYCvE\n\nCheck out TMZ Live, TMZ Sports and toofab!\nTMZ Live: http://tmz.me/GxCXCfl\nSubscribe! TMZ Live: http://tmz.me/cLxA82p\nTMZ Sports: http://tmz.me/jMBERbb\nSubscribe! TMZ Sports: http://tmz.me/jMBERbb\nToofab: http://tmz.me/dsXztns\nSubscribe! toofab: http://tmz.me/VeVLMmi\n\n\nhttps://www.youtube.com/c/TMZ","options":{"_cc_load_policy":{"label":"Closed captions","value":false},"_end":{"label":"End on","placeholder":"ex.: 11, 1m10s","value":""},"_start":{"label":"Start from","placeholder":"ex.: 11, 1m10s","value":""},"click_to_play":{"label":"Hold load & play until clicked","value":false}},"provider_name":"YouTube","thumbnail_height":720,"thumbnail_url":"https://i.ytimg.com/vi/Caa8tE8Bv1Y/maxresdefault.jpg","thumbnail_width":1280,"title":"George Santos Defends J.D. Vance Allegedly Cross-Dressing, Says It's Not Drag | TMZ","type":"video","url":"https://action.news/watch?v=Caa8tE8Bv1Y","version":"1.0"},"flags":[],"enhancements":{},"fullBleed":false,"options":{"theme":"news","device":"mobile","editionInfo":{"id":"us","name":"U.S.","link":"https://action.news","locale":"en_US"},"originalEdition":"us","isMapi":false,"isAmp":false,"isVideoEntry":false,"isEntry":true,"isMt":false,"entryId":"66bb78c9e4b0768018b71046","entryPermalink":"https://action.news/entry/george-santos-jd-vance-drag-photos_n_66bb78c9e4b0768018b71046","entryTagsList":"2024-elections,george-santos,jd-vance,drag-queens,@queer_voices,@us_huffpost_now,@voices","sectionSlug":"politics","deptSlug":"politics-news","sectionRedirectUrl":null,"subcategories":"us-news,media,queer-voices,style","isWide":false,"headerOverride":null,"noVideoAds":false,"disableFloat":false,"isNative":false,"commercialVideo":{"provider":"custom","site_and_category":"us.politics","package":null},"isHighline":false,"vidibleConfigValues":{"cid":"60afc111dcf87c2cd2f5d8bf","overrides":{"front_page_top_videos":{"desktop":"60b64354b171b7444beaff4d","mobileweb":"60b64354b171b7444beaff4d"},"top_media":{"desktop":"60b8e6bdc5449357a7ada147","mobile":"60b8e701c5449357a7ada2ee","iphone":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","ipad":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","androidphone":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c","androidtablet":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c"},"anthology":{"desktop":"60b8e616cdd90620331bb0ba","mobile":"60b8e671c5449357a7ad9f66","iphone":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","ipad":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","androidphone":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c","androidtablet":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c"},"content":{"desktop":"60b8e616cdd90620331bb0ba","mobile":"60b8e671c5449357a7ad9f66","iphone":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","ipad":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","androidphone":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c","androidtablet":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c"}},"playerUpdates":{"5668ae6ee4b0b5e26955d6a6":"60d2472d9340d7032ad7e443","56aa41bae4b091744c0440d8":"60e869dc7c5f3b17b6741b81","5841b2b5cc52c716ec6e5a7f":"60b8e355cdd90620331ba185","58b5e2b8d85a10302feee895":"60b64316b171b7444beafdb2","58b74698f78ced31417819ae":"60b8e5bec5449357a7ad9b52","58b74ccecebcea57e2c3a3d1":"60b8e5eac5449357a7ad9ca5","58cff690d85a100b9992bc39":"60b8e616cdd90620331bb0ba","58cffb3fb6d9b972a49a3c9d":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","58cffdd74d96935d7d6ec180":"60b8e671c5449357a7ad9f66","58d03a84f78ced6518eb2fa7":"60b643c82e76be41f112735c","592edf20e0fa177b0c26f7fd":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c","5b35266b158f855373e28256":"60b64354b171b7444beaff4d","5c116f29f79c4171d82b7c2a":"60b64440b171b7444beb040b","5c1170fc600c9a697bf0c6b9":"60b646102e76be41f1127ffc","5c47791afa1b317df8ae0c4f":"60b8e6bdc5449357a7ada147","5c477987a6b48b35f164773d":"60b8e701c5449357a7ada2ee","5c4779ee943c3c2a64f28371":"60b8e747cdd90620331bb861","5c477a26fcd67b26879bc7c2":"60b8e788c5449357a7ada67b","5d8921a78c3ae845f366c9b6":"60ae7be5f3a7c13a30417ff9","58b98b00ba82aa39a6534321":"60d0de7c9340d7032ad1146c","58b9d14cb6d9b96c9ec32af3":"60d0dec19340d7032ad115a0","58cff8eccebcea42931e0436":"60d0e005b627221e9d819d44","592edf5de0fa177b0c26f95b":"60d0e38fb627221e9d81adcf","58cff72fd85a100b9992c112":"60d0e447b627221e9d81b0da","56b4d34fe4b022697697c400":"60d2472d9340d7032ad7e443","60b8e4c0c5449357a7ad957d":"60e869dc7c5f3b17b6741b81"}},"connatixConfigValues":{"defaultPlayer":"ff7fdddc-5441-4253-abc4-f12a33fad58b","clickToPlayPlayer":"d014396e-b366-4c17-aeac-3ce906fa3fd0","videoPagePlayer":"f010447b-d244-4111-a314-7b4542ae4145","verticalPlayer":"e58cb05a-0bc8-4210-9108-fea82726c065","stickyPlayerControl":"52ea1755-d601-4ad1-bccc-d8cce3f0e5da","stickyPlayerON":"8055e9e5-3bda-4933-8d45-9ad814fb6e22"},"topConnatixThumnbailSrc":"https://img.connatix.com/e14f7db8-9365-46b8-83a8-d74bb1d0f115/1_th.jpg?crop=480:270,smart&width=480&height=270&format=jpeg&quality=60&fit=crop","customAmpComponents":[],"ampAssetsUrl":"https://amp.assets.huffpost.com","videoTraits":null,"positionInUnitCounts":{"buzz_head":{"count":0},"buzz_body":{"count":0},"buzz_bottom":{"count":0}},"positionInSubUnitCounts":{"article_body":{"count":18},"blog_summary":{"count":0},"before_you_go_content":{"count":0}},"connatixCountsHelper":{"count":1},"buzzfeedTracking":{"context_page_id":"66bb78c9e4b0768018b71046","context_page_type":"buzz","destination":"huffpost","mode":"mobile","page_edition":"en-us"},"tags":[{"name":"2024 elections","slug":"2024-elections","links":{"relativeLink":"topic/2024-elections","permalink":"https://action.news/topic/2024-elections","mobileWebLink":"https://action.news/topic/2024-elections"},"department":{"name":"Latest News","slug":"politics-news"},"section":{"title":"Politics","slug":"politics"},"topic":{"title":"2024 Elections","slug":"2024-elections","overridesSectionLabel":false},"url":"https://action.news/news/topic/2024-elections"},{"name":"George Santos","slug":"george-santos","links":{"relativeLink":"topic/george-santos","permalink":"https://action.news/topic/george-santos","mobileWebLink":"https://action.news/topic/george-santos"},"url":"https://action.news/topic/george-santos"},{"name":"j.d. vance","slug":"jd-vance","links":{"relativeLink":"topic/jd-vance","permalink":"https://action.news/topic/jd-vance","mobileWebLink":"https://action.news/topic/jd-vance"},"department":{"name":"Latest News","slug":"politics-news"},"section":{"title":"Politics","slug":"politics"},"topic":{"title":"JD Vance","slug":"jd-vance","overridesSectionLabel":false},"url":"https://action.news/news/topic/jd-vance"},{"name":"drag queens","slug":"drag-queens","links":{"relativeLink":"topic/drag-queens","permalink":"https://action.news/topic/drag-queens","mobileWebLink":"https://action.news/topic/drag-queens"},"department":{"name":"Voices","slug":"voices"},"section":{"title":"Queer Voices","slug":"queer-voices"},"topic":{"title":"Drag Queens","slug":"drag-queens","overridesSectionLabel":false},"url":"https://action.news/voices/topic/drag-queens"}],"isLiveblogLive":null,"isLiveblog":false,"cetUnit":"buzz_body","bodyAds":["\r\n\r\n","\r\n\r\n","\r\n\r\n"],"adCount":0},"isCollectionEmbed":false}">
_(720p).jpg)
 OFFICIAL HD MUSIC VIDEO.jpg)
.jpg)
