Vice President JD Vance made a dramatic entrance onto the left-leaning social media platform Bluesky on Wednesday — and was suspended within minutes after posting a bold message that many interpreted as a direct challenge to the site’s ideological orthodoxy.
Vance announced his arrival on X (formerly Twitter), writing, “Just set up my page on @bluesky, hope to see you guys there!” His tone was light but purposeful, and he followed up with a post on Bluesky stating that he looked forward to engaging in “common sense political discussion and analysis.” But what came next was anything but tame.
Just set up my page on @bluesky, hope to see you guys there! pic.twitter.com/5cgjyMF8su
— JD Vance (@JDVance) June 18, 2025
In his first major post on the platform, Vance embedded a screenshot of the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in United States v. Skrmetti, a 6-3 decision that upheld Tennessee’s law banning so-called “gender-affirming” medical treatments on minors. The decision, which split along familiar ideological lines, featured a sharply worded concurring opinion by Justice Clarence Thomas — the very passage Vance chose to highlight.
“To that end, I found Justice [Clarence] Thomas’s concurrence on medical care for transgender youth quite illuminating,” the vice president wrote. “e argues that many of our so-called ‘experts’ have used bad arguments and substandard science to push experimental therapies on our youth.” In a follow-up post, he added: “I might add that many of those scientists are receiving substantial resources from big pharma to push these medicines on kids. What do you think?”
Within roughly 15 minutes, Vance’s account was suspended.
The ban sparked immediate reactions across social media, with conservative influencers and commentators mocking the platform for its swift censorship. “Wow. They banned JD Vance from Bluesky in under 15 minutes,” podcast host Comfortably Smug wrote. “What a hero.”
Nick Sortor joked, “UPDATE: BlueCry banned the sitting VP for hurting their feelings.”
One commenter quipped, “11 minutes….All it took was 11 minutes…..”
Wow. They banned JD Vance from Blue sky in under 15 minutes
What a hero https://t.co/fxki0UzR9Z pic.twitter.com/kKQmOHWin0
— Comfortably Smug (@ComfortablySmug) June 18, 2025
The incident quickly evolved into a symbolic moment for supporters of the Trump-Vance administration, who saw the suspension as proof of leftist intolerance for dissenting views — particularly when it comes from the highest levels of government. A video clip of President Trump declaring, “We do a little trolling, it’s called we do a little trolling,” circulated widely in reaction, as users connected the Vice President’s post with Trump’s signature online provocations.
While Bluesky later clarified that the suspension was due to automated systems flagging impersonation attempts — a claim they’ve made in similar cases — the optics were already baked in. For many observers, it wasn’t about algorithmic misfires. It was about a platform unable — or unwilling — to tolerate a dissenting view from a sitting Vice President, especially one that touched on the increasingly contentious debate over transgender medical policy.
