The altered photo of the vice president might’ve revealed his weird, sweaty soul better than Hillbilly Elegy ever could.
This week, a 21-year-old Norwegian tourist named Mads Mikkelsen was detained by U.S. Customs and Border Protection at Newark Airport, and the most important part of the story is NOT that there’s another guy named Mads Mikkelsen. The most important part of the story is that Mikkelsen claims he was detained and eventually returned to Norway at least in part because of an image CBP agents found on his phone, which is this doctored photo of JD Vance.
Upon his return to Norway, Mikkelsen gave an interview to local newspaper Nordlys, saying that CBP agents threatened him with a $5,000 fine if he did not unlock his phone and allow them to scroll through his photos, and when they saw this hilarious and unsettling image, that was the last straw. The story spread far and wide, and CBP felt the need to address the situation on social media.
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Because the CBP chose to address the story publicly rather than let it blow over, the JD Vance meme has been on the front page of European newspapers and websites all week long, which is the dumbest and funniest and most obvious possible outcome. It is proof that people in power do not understand the Streisand Effect.
https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/a65223992/us-customs-and-border-protection-jd-vance-meme