J.D. Vance Underage "Simps" Group Chat Rumor

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Overview

J.D. Vance Underage "Simps" Group Chat Rumor refers to speculation based on purported screenshots that Ohio Senator and Vice Presidential candidate J. D. Vance was a member of right-wing activist group chats on X / Twitter, which supposedly included minors. Allegedly, Vance actively participated in the group chats alongside Blake Masters, another 2022 U.S. Senate candidate who, like Vance, was funded by billionaire investor and tech mogul Peter Thiel. Users claiming to have been participants in the group chats shared screenshots in which Vance allegedly used internet culture references and memes.

Background

An April 4th, 2024, post on X by user @Mangolith discussing the group chats saw somewhat broad circulation, receiving over 2,300 likes in three months.^[1] The post, which is the earliest known example, specifically mentions J. D. Vance and claims that it's an "open secret" that he and other Republican senators message "high schoolers" on the platform to discuss politics (shown below).

A purported screenshot (seen below) of message exchanges in which Vance allegedly appeared to call a member of the chat (@CalebBurdett18) a "simp" was then posted on July 15th by X user @souljagoitellem, receiving over 2,800 likes in two days (seen below, authenticity unconfirmed).^[2]

A LinkedIn profile appears to show that Caleb Burdett is currently a policy analyst at the America First Policy Institute and graduated from the University of Akron in 2022, while his X profile notes that he is 26, indicating that he was not a minor at the time that J.D. Vance purportedly accused him of being "thirsty."^[3]

The group chats allegedly date back to 2021 or 2022 during Vance's Senate campaign, according to a purported participant who speculated (seen below) that it was "like three years ago" on X in the spring of 2024.^[7] Other alleged participants claimed that there were no high schoolers in the group chat (example seen below).

Online Reactions

Following the July 15th, 2024, announcement of J. D. Vance as Donald Trump's Vice Presidential running mate on the 2024 ticket, the group chat story and rumors saw renewed viral spread online. For example, on July 15th, political scientist Joshua A. Cohen (@ettingermentum on X) received over 3,700 likes in two days for sharing the screenshot of the group chat, questioning why Vance used the term "simps" (seen below).^[4]

Meme makers also took the opportunity to joke about Vance's rumored involvement with very online and young people in the conservative movement. For example, on July 16th, X user @skunkgender compared Vance to Drake, repeating frequent allegations that the Canadian musical artist groomed minors, receiving 400 views and 20 likes in less than a day.^[5]

On the thread on which the group chat was discussed, a Washington Post reporter replied and asked if anyone could share further information about the content of the group chats (seen below), leading to speculation and jokes about possible mainstream coverage of the topic.^[6]