When JD Vance popped onto the national scene, caricaturists everywhere must have rejoiced. The elements that make up the VP’s trademark look are just too easy to portray, such as his round face, visible in throwback photos, his formidable, often unruly brows, his signature beard, and the element that always has the internet abuzz: Vance’s eyeliner. His wife Usha Vance’s press office has assured the world that there’s nothing suspect going on, but we can’t help but speculate that there is something unusual there, whether it’s makeup, or tattooed eyeliner, or even a rare quirk that causes extra lashes to grow.
What didn’t help the cause of trying to convince the world that his thick lash line is not enhanced by makeup? His appearance at the February 2025 Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), held in Maryland. It’s quite possibly JD Vance’s messiest eyeliner look yet, and it’s giving us major Johnny Depp vibes. Watch out, conspiracy theorists, this is only going to add fuel to the bizarre rumors that abound regarding Vance’s guy-liner.
How JD Vance is channeling Johnny Depp
Yes, both JD Vance and Johnny Depp are polarizing personalities. But that’s not where we’re drawing a comparison here. Let us take you down a little memory lane called “Pirates of the Caribbean,” which was arguably the height of Johnny Depp’s career. In the film franchise, which debuted in 2003, Depp played the beloved pirate-with-a-heart, Jack Sparrow. Inspired in part by The Rolling Stones’ Keith Richards, cartoon skunk Pepé Le Pew, and legendary pirates, Depp helped create the signature Sparrow look with the heavy kohl eyeliner smudged under the eyes. Depp told the Minneapolis Star-Tribune (via Deseret News) that the inspiration for the kohl look came from football players, who wear black under the eye to keep the sun’s reflection at bay. But Depp’s Sparrow wouldn’t have washed it off, resulting in a build-up of product.
At CPAC, Vice President Vance had a similar smudge under his eyes, though admittedly not as pronounced as Sparrow’s. Again, we’re left to wonder if Vance is enhancing his deep-set eyes with the assistance of eye products? Mascara? Liquid liner? Or is it kohl, a la Sparrow?
The character of Jack Sparrow became an iconic one, especially as a Halloween costume, still popular over two decades after it debuted. Should we expect an eyeliner-wearing JD Vance costume to hold such permanence in popular culture? Time, and the veep’s popularity, will tell.
