Couches, dolphins and eyeliner: Debunking and confirming JD Vance rumors

At this point, American voters know a few things about Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance.

They know he's from Ohio and wrote the memoir-turned-movie "Hillbilly Elegy." They've seen him crisscross the country on the campaign path and have read his past remarks, some of them controversial , as they resurface in headlines.

But what voters think they know about Vance is also important. The Ohio senator has been at the center of more than a few bizarre rumors, memes and jokes in the weeks since he was announced as Trump's running mate.

Luke Schroeder, Vance's spokesperson, declined to comment to The Enquirer about the rumors.

Here's what we know, and don't know, about some of the most viral Vance rumors.

Did JD Vance write about having sex with a couch in 'Hillbilly Elegy'?

One of the more well-known Vance rumors can be traced to a July 15 post on X shared by the now-closed account, @rickrudescalves . Shortly after Vance was announced as Trump's running mate, the X user claimed Vance admitted to a sexual act with couch cushions in his 2016 memoir, "Hillbilly Elegy."

The post, since deleted, read, "can't say for sure but he might be the first vp pick to have admitted in a ny times bestseller to (expletive) an Inside-out latex glove shoved between two couch cushions (vance, hillbilly elegy, pp. 179-181)."

A quick glance at Vance's book "Hillbilly Elegy" shows the claim was fake, but it spread like internet wildfire. It even popped up in TV references on shows like "Last Week Tonight" hosted by John Oliver and "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert."

The joke circulated, and people believed it, so much that Snopes and the Associated Press wrote fact-checks debunking it. AP later deleted its fact-check.

The rumor's originator, @rickrudescalves, told Business Insider he identifies with the political left and does not work in politics. He said he made up the joke because he does not like Vance and thought it was funny. He hid the post within a week because he was uncomfortable with the amount of attention it got, and admitted to creating misinformation, though he said that was not his intent.

What did JD Vance post about dolphins?

On Feb. 17, Vance posted a screenshot on X of another account's post. The post, from @crazyclipsonly, shows an image of two men and one woman on a dock where two dolphins are jumping out of the water. The post is captioned, "Woman gets violated by a dolphin and enjoys it."

Vance joked about the terrible things one can find online, writing, "Maybe the internet was a mistake."

However, the post took a turn in July, after Vance was announced as Trump's running mate, when X users pointed out that the words "Woman" and "dolphin" are bolded in the post, indicating those were the words Vance had searched on X. This led commenters to question why Vance was searching for posts about a "woman" and "dolphin."

"WHY ARE THOSE TWO WORDS HIGHLIGHTED?!?!?" one person commented on July 26.

"I dread to think what the rest of your search history looks like dude," another wrote.

Since X bolds searched terms, it's possible Vance had seen the post earlier and searched for it in order to make the joke. The senator does not follow @crazyclipsonly.

The X post is still up, and Vance did not respond to commenters.

What was found on JD Vance's Venmo?

Most of Vance's transactions on Venmo were private or mundane, but his friends list on the app revealed some high-profile and controversial people he may be connected to, Wired reported .

Friends lists are auto-populated on the app, which is owned by PayPal and used to send money electronically, by users' phone contacts. That means Vance's Venmo friends are likely people who were in his cellphone contacts list when he first joined the platform in 2016, not people with whom he has necessarily shared transactions. The app also allows users to send and receive money to people not on their friends list.

Still, Wired reported several notable people on Vance's friends list. Amalia Halikias, government relations director for the Heritage Foundation, credited with Project 2025, was on the list, according to the outlet. Halikias didn't start working for The Heritage Foundation until 2023, according to her LinkedIn , and attended Yale the same time Vance did.

Vance was also connected with several Trump critics, including Jeff Flake, a former Arizona senator and Republican.

Wired also reported that people affiliated with conservative groups like the Hoover Institution and American Enterprise Institute, executives with Anthropic and AOL, and journalists like former Fox News host Tucker Carlson were also on Vance's friends lists.

Vance's Venmo account appears to now be deleted (he does not appear in the friends list of his wife, sister or mother, all of whom have accounts).

Does JD Vance wear eyeliner?

Viewers have noticed one thing about Vance since he stepped into the national TV spotlight – his eyes. The senator has blue eyes and dark eyelashes, causing some social media users to claim he wears eyeliner.

Theories about Vance's eyes are all over TikTok, where some users even think they've nailed down what specific product he could be using.

Vance has not addressed the speculation.

Others on social media have pointed to old pictures of the nominee, such as his Marine Corps photo, to show that he's always had dark eyelashes.

What did JD Vance say about Mountain Dew?

At his Middletown rally last month, Vance joked Democrats will say it's "racist to do anything," including drinking Diet Mountain Dew .

“I had a Diet Mountain Dew yesterday and one today, and I’m sure they’re going to call that racist, too,” he told the crowd.

This spawned social media posts and call-outs about the soda, including a response from Kentucky governor and potential Democratic VP nominee Andy Beshear.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Couches, dolphins and eyeliner: Debunking and confirming JD Vance rumors