This week, a 21-year-old Norwegian tourist claimed to have been turned away from entry into the U.S. after border patrol found a meme of a bald, puffy JD Vance on his phone. The government has since disavowed the man’s claims, but that hasn’t stopped the internet from taking the opportunity to remember just how much they love that meme.
The tourist in question, named Mads Mikkelsen (not to be confused with the Casino Royale actor of the same name), arrived at Newark airport on June 11th and planned to stay in the U.S. for a short vacation. However, he told reporters he was deported not long after CBP authorities found the meme on his phone. In an interview with a Norwegian news outlet, Mikkelsen claimed that he after the meme was discovered, authorities proceeded to grill him on a series of criminal activities that had nothing to do with him: “They asked questions about drug trafficking, terrorist plots and right-wing extremism totally without reason,” Mikkelsen told the outlet. Not long afterward, he was sent packing.
After rumors circulated that Mikkelsen had been ejected because of the meme, the government attempted to denounce the story. On Tuesday, the X account for the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol shared a screenshot of the meme, adding: “Fact Check: FALSE.” The account added: “Mads Mikkelsen was not denied entry for any memes or political reasons, it was for his admitted drug use.”
Ironically, the incident served as yet another opportunity for the internet to revel in just how much they love that meme. The meme briefly had a surge of reshares on social media, as the story made the rounds. Irish lawmaker Ivana Bacik held up a printout of the meme during a parliamentary session while denouncing the Trump administration’s border policies. “We’re watching a major incursion on the freedom of expression, unthinkable in an electoral democracy,” Bacik said. Even U.S. Senator Ron Wyden shared the meme on Bluesky without comment.
The bloated baby face J.D. Vance meme started last October and quickly spawned a million iterations. Creativity of the sort that isn’t usually found outside of an experimental art class swept social media as web users delighted in the ability to make Vance as obese and grotesque as humanly possible.
Under the Trump administration, CBP has been accused of turning away many tourists for similarly nebulous reasons. One man, an Australian journalist, claims he was interrogated and turned away for his reports on pro-Palestinian protests and Gaza. The Trump administration has also made it clear that it wants to intensively vet the social media histories of visitors to the U.S. As horrific as these invasions of privacy have become, at least we can rely on the Streisand effect to humiliate the vice president like clockwork.
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