JD Vance joined Bluesky on Wednesday and was swiftly suspended, prompting furious accusations of bias from his base on X.
The vice president signed up for the social media platform—which many disaffected users joined to escape Elon Musk’s increasingly right-leaning X—and was quickly suspended after making his first post. His account was restored a short time later.
A Bluesky spokesperson confirmed to the Daily Beast that Vance’s account was temporarily shut down.
“Vice President Vance’s account was briefly flagged by our automated systems that try to detect impersonation attempts, which have targeted public figures like him in the past.
“The account was quickly restored and verified so people can easily confirm its authenticity,” the spokesperson added. “We welcome the Vice President to join the conversation on Bluesky.”
The vice president’s initial thread on Bluesky seemed to be intended as a troll on a site that has a reputation for predominantly liberal discussion.
He cited a Supreme Court ruling upholding a Tennessee state law banning gender-affirming care for minors, writing, “Hello Bluesky, I’ve been told this app has become the place to go for common sense political discussion and analysis. So I’m thrilled to be here to engage with all of you.”
“To that end, I found Justice Thomas’s concurrence on medical care for transgender youth quite illuminating,” he added, referring to conservative Justice Clarence Thomas. “He argues that many of our so-called ‘experts’ have used bad arguments and substandard science to push experimental therapies on our youth.”
A spokesperson for Vance didn’t immediately return a request for comment.
Just set up my page on @bluesky, hope to see you guys there! pic.twitter.com/5cgjyMF8su
— JD Vance (@JDVance) June 18, 2025
Musk’s X saw an exodus of anti-MAGA users around the time of the 2024 election, including prominent figures and celebrities, with many people turning to platforms like Bluesky and Threads. At the time, Bluesky said the majority of its new users were coming from the U.S., followed by Canada and the U.K. In just two months, X lost 2.7 million users. Bluesky gained 2.5 million users in the same period.
Vance’s suspension—however brief—lasted long enough to spark uproar from his MAGA allies.
“Why’d it take BlueSky *17 whole minutes* to ban @JD Vance?” GOP Senator Mike Lee posted on X. “What kind of self-respecting, leftist censorship takes that long to stamp out free speech?”
Right-wing influencer Charlie Kirk accused the platform of banning Vance “for offending them.”
“And thanks to Elon Musk, we get to point and laugh at them instead of howling in anger about censorship. And thanks to us using our free speech on 𝕏, mocking and laughing at them, they’ve been forced to reinstate him!” he added.
Why’d it take BlueSky *17 whole minutes* to ban @JDVance?What kind of self-respecting, leftist censorship takes that long to stamp out free speech? https://t.co/zlOOmt6Eni
— Mike Lee (@BasedMikeLee) June 18, 2025
Benny Johnson, a conservative YouTuber, lashed out at “deranged leftists” who he said were blocking Vance en masse on the platform.
Nick Sortor, who has appeared on Tucker Carlson’s shows, said “BlueCry banned the sitting VP for hurting their feelings.”
“Bluesky doesn’t support free speech,” posted right-wing pundit Ian Jaeger.
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