What's behind Vance's successful memes that are trending on social media

JD Vance, the Vice President of the United States, has become a viral phenomenon on social media, especially on X, where users have started creating and sharing memes about his edited face.

These memes, which initially showed Vance as a grotesque caricature, have evolved and multiplied, with versions depicting him as a baby, a monster, or even an Oompa-Loompa from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

Vance's memes went viral after an intense exchange at the White House between Vance, President Donald Trump, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.

During this meeting, Vance asked Zelenskiy if he had "thanked once" for the United States' support to Ukraine, which was interpreted as an unusual statement and triggered a flood of memes on social media.

The phenomenon began with an edit by Republican Congressman Mike Collins, who modified an official photo of Vance to make him look more attractive, in the style of a "chad" meme.

From there, X users replied by creating versions of Vance with exaggerated features, such as a child version holding a pacifier or an inflated and distorted image of his face.

These images became a recurring theme, with meme editors continuously improving the quality of the modifications, creating even stranger and more surreal versions of Vance.

The memes about Vance weren't limited to his distorted face; some included pop culture references, like images of Vance inserted into iconic movie scenes, such as Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, where he was presented as Violet Beauregarde, the girl who turns into a giant blueberry.

These modifications were widely shared, accumulating millions of views on platforms like X, TikTok, and Instagram. The originality of the memes and the diversity of approaches in the edits reflect the degree of creativity that Vance's face has inspired on the internet.

Although initially Vance's memes were a form of mockery to some extent, this phenomenon has become almost bipartisan, with some of his followers seeing it as a way to pay tribute to their Vice President in a fun and endearing way.

As the memes evolved, so did the perceptions about them.

Instead of continuing with the grotesque edits of his early days, users began inserting his image into simpler and less distorted contexts, and the question of who was behind these memes became a kind of "Rorschach test" of politics.

The reach of these memes has also raised questions about the influence of image editing tools and the use of artificial intelligence in politics.

Meanwhile, the Vice President seems to have taken the phenomenon with humor, which led some to declare that the "joke" had died, although the memes continue to circulate strongly.