Vice President JD Vance tried to rally voters to support a MAGA candidate in a battleground state but attracted only a small crowd.
On Friday, Vance went to Council Bluffs, Iowa, to stump for GOP gubernatorial nominee Zach Lahn, but he was met with an underwhelming crowd, leading to ridicule online.
A picture by a Reuters photographer revealed the sparse crowd that took up only a small square in the middle of a gymnasium, with a more bunched group standing behind Vance for the background of photos. Journalist Aaron Rupar mockingly described the photo as "JD Vance speaks to dozens of people today in Iowa."
"Oof that's rough," wrote podcaster and political commentator Krystal Ball, who co-hosts "Breaking Points."
"Don't worry @RepAshleyHinson," taunted The Lincoln Project, referring to a similarly small turnout for a rally held by MAGA Rep. Ashley Hinson (R-IA), the GOP nominee for Senate in Iowa. "No one else showed up either."
"This could've been an email..." joked YouTube and digital content expert Chris Robinson.
"Yikes!" reacted Iowa State Representative J.D. Scholten. "@RobSandIA gets more people at his town halls than this," referring to Iowa State Auditor Rob Sand, who is running against Lahn as the Democratic nominee.
"Can't believe people aren't flocking to @jdvance's charisma," Scholten sarcastically added.
"Yikes," echoed Democratic political communications strategist Daniela Campos Lopez. "Small crowd."
"Goodness," reacted Iowa political adviser Zachary Meunier.
"Vice President of the United States of America," deadpanned Capitol Hill reporter Julian Andreone.
"What's funny is about half of these people are campaign staff that are already being paid to be there," suggested George Basile, a policy communications official from Philadelphia.
"You could fit this entire room on a couch," author and political commentator Hemant Mehta posted, evoking a long-running internet joke about Vance supposedly committing degrading acts with furniture.
"In 2024 Trump won Iowa by 13.2 points," pointed out progressive political commentator Molly Jong-Fast, suggesting change may be afoot.