JD Vance wants people to keep talking about Sydney Sweeney's American Eagle ad

To the VP, backlash over Sweeney's campaign is a referendum on the Democratic party, but no prominent Democratic officials have commented on the ad as of this writing.

By Emma Keates  |  August 1, 2025 | 11:20am
Screenshot: American Eagle/YouTube
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JD Vance wants people to keep talking about Sydney Sweeney's American Eagle ad
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JD Vance is a big fan of Sydney Sweeney’s American Eagle campaign. At this point, we’ve likely all seen it—as well as the wave of backlash it received almost immediately after it was released. In one ad, Sweeney zips up a pair of jeans and, in a tone that’s meant to be seductive but seems a bit more like she’s getting over a cold, says, “Genes are passed down from parents to offspring… My jeans are blue.” In another, she stands in front of a billboard that reads, “Sydney Sweeney has great genes,” but the word “genes” is crossed out and replaced with “jeans.”

Some people on the internet were not happy with the campaign. Or, in Vance’s words on a recent episode of the right-leaning Ruthless podcast (via Variety), “My political advice to the Democrats is continue to tell everybody who thinks Sydney Sweeney is attractive is a Nazi… That appears to be their actual strategy.” The thing is, the people Vance are mocking don’t hold any governmental power at all. According to CNN, “no prominent Democratic Party leaders or officials have commented on the ad,” at least as of this writing.

Non-elected critics of the campaign have claimed that there are eugenicist undertones to the ad’s focus on Sweeney’s genes. People have also decried its apparent male-focused marketing and characterized it as a white supremecist dog whistle that holds up Sweeney’s white skin and blonde hair as a beauty ideal. This view is, unsurprisingly, a little too socially conscious for Vance, who couldn’t help but use it as an example of Democrats’ “hostility to basic American life.” 

“I actually thought that one of the lessons [Democrats] might take is we’re going to be less crazy. And the lesson they have apparently taken is we’re going to attack people as Nazis for thinking Sydney Sweeney is beautiful,” the vice president continued. “Great strategy, guys. That’s how you’re going to win the midterm, especially young American men.”

While he, again, isn’t a Democratic party leader, Stephen Colbert did touch on the controversy a bit in a monologue earlier this week. While he said the backlash “might be a bit of an overreaction,” he mostly used the segment to poke fun at Donald Trump Jr., who responded to the controversy by posting an AI picture of his dad in the same outfit as Sweeney on Instagram, along with the caption, “Um, Donald is so hot right now!!!”

“Let me get this straight, Don Jr.. You look at Sydney Sweeney, and your first thought is, ‘She’s hot like my dad’?” Colbert riffed. Now that’s something we can keep talking about.

 
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