Vice President JD Vance has been mocked over photos he posted of himself training with the Navy SEALs.
Vance, 41, who previously served in Iraq as a Marine, on Monday said he completed a 90-minute personal training session and felt like he had been hit by a “freight train.”
Photographs shared by the Vice President included him climbing a cargo net, carrying a log, running on the beach, and riding in a small boat.
Highlights
- Vice President JD Vance completed a 90-minute training session with Navy SEALs and shared photos of himself in action from the Naval Amphibious Base Coronado.
- Vance was mocked online for the photos, with critics calling it a staged photo op and poking fun at his physical performance during training.
- Pete Hegseth recently introduced strict military fitness and grooming rules targeting body weight, beard bans, and mandatory twice-yearly PT tests.
JD Vance said he felt like he had been hit by a freight train
Image credits: JD Vance
Many of those Vance was training with at the Naval Amphibious Base Coronado had their faces blurred out.
“Just finished PT with the Navy SEALs for 90 minutes (I'll post some photos when I get them). They took it easy on me and I still feel like I got hit by a freight train,” Vance wrote on X.
“So grateful to all of our warriors who keep us safe and keep the highest standards anywhere in the world!”
Vance then shared the images on his professional X account, writing, “Vice President Vance trains with @USNavy Seals at Naval Amphibious Base Coronado.”
Image credits: JD Vance
He was quickly ridiculed online, with many commenters photoshopping an infamous meme of his blown-up face onto the other soldiers, and some dubbing him “GI jello.”
“Welcome to the Danger Zone,” a social media user wrote alongside one such image.
Another added, “You'll never reach proper meme size if you keep exercising like that!”
“I love when these people cosplay as badasses. It makes me feel better about myself,” a third user wrote.
One commentator questioned, “You think you ‘trained’ with the SEALs? Honey, they slow walked it for your photo op. Didn’t even get your shirt dirty.”
Others were more critical of Vance’s motives, with one user posting, “Nice cosplay as a Navy SEAL. Leadership isn’t about photo ops, it’s about fixing the mess at home.”
“A pathetic vanity project masquerading as ‘training,’” another added. “JD Vance playing dress-up with the Navy SEALs while federal workers go unpaid during his administration’s shutdown is a slap in the face to real service members.
“It's not a show of strength; it’s a desperate photo op for a Vice President who cares more about his military ‘aesthetic’ than actually governing.”
Vance was accused of staging a photo op
Image credits: JD Vance
Christopher Hale, a Democratic strategist, wrote, “It’s the middle of the workday. While Americans are grinding to make Christmas work, the vice president is burning taxpayer dollars pretending to be a Navy SEAL.”
In October, Secretary of War Hegseth spoke to top military brass and used his speech to slam “fat troops” and “fat generals,” announcing strict new “male-level” fitness standards.
“Likewise, it’s completely unacceptable to see fat generals and admirals in the halls of the Pentagon, and leading commands around the country and the world.”
Hegseth announced that every member of U.S. military forces, at every rank, will be required to undergo a PT test twice a year, as well as meet height and weight requirements.
“No more beardos,” he said.