In late July 2024, we received inquiries from readers who asked about a years-old photo posted on Facebook appearing to show U.S. Sen. JD Vance passed out on the floor during his college days.
Online users shared the original Facebook post and reposts of the picture in the weeks following former U.S. President Donald Trump's announcement of the Ohio Republican as his 2024 vice-presidential running mate.
According to both the Facebook post's original caption and its 17-year-old comments — including one reply from Vance's own private account in which he acknowledged possibly experiencing a "blackout" — it was true the photo in question showed Vance passed out on the floor.
The Original Facebook Post
A Facebook user named Danielle publicly posted the picture on Jan. 8, 2007, during Vance's time at Ohio State University. Vance graduated from Ohio State in 2009. He also attended Yale Law School, graduating in 2013. (We have withheld some users' last names from this story because we have not spoken with them.)
Danielle's caption read, "Yes, that is definitely JD passed out in the corner." She tagged Vance's account on the part of the picture showing him passed out on the floor. The time 4:54 a.m. was displayed on the photo, possibly from a disposable camera. We did not find information about the exact day when either she or someone else captured the picture. Facebook displayed no edits ever made to the post or its comments.
On Jan. 15, 2007, Vance responded from his personal account, "You Danielle, this might be my first official blackout, I don't remember being asleep at all." Danielle responded the following morning, "Your pillow was a stuffed animal you grabbed, btw." A user named Eric posted the third and final comment, reading, "Was the fact that your belt buckle and pants were undone mentioned at all yet? Cuz that's true also."
(Image courtesy of Danielle/Facebook)
As of July 2024, Vance's private Facebook account displayed 900 friends, more than 13,000 followers and a link to the account of his wife, Usha.
A Glimpse at College Life in the 2000s
The user named Danielle originally added the photo to a Facebook album named "Christmas & New Year's 06/07." A second photo in the album showed Vance standing and wearing the same clothing seen in the picture of him on the floor.
The album featured numerous people appearing to live through their college years in 2006 and 2007 in ways some readers might find familiar. For example, the photos featured Ohio State flags, beer cans and bottles, beer pong, billiards, a Nintendo 64 gaming console, a poker table, singing, a guitar, arcade games and at least one late night spent at a Waffle House. Also, several of the people visible in the pictures wore shirts displaying the names of either Ohio University or Ohio State.
'We Millennials Have Arrived'
One user on X posted of the photo, "JD Vance is definitely the first VP nominee to ever have photos of himself passed out on Facebook. We millennials have arrived."
A different user remarked on X, "A 'picture of JD Vance' passed out in the corner of a room is circulating and I wish they wouldn't do that because it just makes me identify with him."
We contacted Trump's campaign and Vance's office by email to ask whether they had a response regarding users sharing the photo. We also reached out to Danielle via Messenger to inquire about the possibility of further context. We will update this story if they respond.