{"id":97566,"date":"2025-08-20T19:59:08","date_gmt":"2025-08-20T19:59:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/97566\/"},"modified":"2025-08-20T19:59:08","modified_gmt":"2025-08-20T19:59:08","slug":"j-d-vance-is-the-star-of-a-mocking-philly-mural-i-went-to-witness-its-glory","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/97566\/","title":{"rendered":"J.D. Vance is the star of a mocking Philly mural. I went to witness its glory."},"content":{"rendered":"

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If you Google \u201cWhat should I do with $300?,\u201d the search engine\u2019s inescapable A.I. bot will spout corporate gobbledygook about self-improvement back at you: Open a high-yield savings account, take a class or workshop,\u00a0support a charity, yada yada. But Philadelphians know that another, arguably better, option exists: Call up some pals, buy some paint, and slap a larger-than-life mural ridiculing the smarmy visage of the vice president of the United States<\/a> on the side of a local institution. After all, as the Philly way dictates, who needs self-improvement when disdain is on the table?<\/p>\n

This is how I ended up staring into the terrifying eyes of a bald, babylike J.D. Vance painted in colorful strokes on the exterior of a restaurant in the Fishtown neighborhood of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, earlier this week.<\/p>\n

The image is taken from a now-infamous infantilizing meme<\/a>\u2014part of a larger trend of edits depicting Vance as a baby<\/a> and as other kinds of figures<\/a>, sometimes simultaneously\u2014which has taken on a life of its own since it cropped up on X in late 2024<\/a>, just before the presidential election. This artistic interpretation of Vance, which reimagines him as a uniquely disturbing-looking grown infant, has haunted the veep for the better part of a year now, particularly on his sojourns across the pond. The Benjamin Button\u2013esque political likeness has appeared this summer on the Irish parliamentary floor<\/a>, and on both an English van<\/a> and a billboard<\/a>, taunting the VP during a visit to the U.K. The meme has reportedly become such a sore point that, according to one Norwegian tourist<\/a>, it even got him denied entry into the U.S. (U.S. Homeland Security officials refuted this, but the fact that the claim was initially plausible speaks volumes.)<\/p>\n

Now the visage also exists in Philadelphia, on the corner of Berks Street and E. Girard Avenue, on the side of the breakfast eatery Sulimay\u2019s<\/a>, a site that has inspired online awe<\/a>, as well as a growing number of pilgrimages. Like the original image, the mural is unbelievably blue, pairing a cobalt backdrop with a cartoonishly rendered Vance whose head seems even more misshapen than what\u2019s depicted in the meme. Despite the grotesquery, it\u2019s evident that the mural was created with care: The shading technique<\/a> resembles mini heat maps that get darker as you get lower, signaling even more danger as the viewer imagines what horrors lie below Vance\u2019s shoulders. On the egglike face is a scraggly painted beard that looks fake in all the right ways. But the mural\u2019s standout feature is certainly the eyes, complete with the vice president\u2019s all-natural emo eyeliner<\/a> and orbs so light blue they couldn\u2019t possibly have life behind them. Naturally, the new painting is positioned directly next to an intricate, beautifully crafted mural of the Philadelphia 76ers logo, just the way God\u2014yes, I mean William Penn\u2014intended.<\/p>\n

I stared at this evil Vance-a Lisa, whose eyes follow you no matter where you move, for 10 minutes straight on a gloomy Monday afternoon. It immediately brought to mind the face of the actor Benedict Wong, specifically as seen in the trailer<\/a> of the horror movie du jour Weapons<\/a> (only, granted, free of blood and less smashed in\u2014for now, at least). Vance\u2019s gaze pierced my soul; I could feel it trying to cull every ounce of humanity I had left. My staring contest left me shaken: I felt as though I had unlocked all the dark secrets to the world, at the cost of my hypothetical firstborn child. I also, for some inexplicable reason, felt as though I needed to go home and say sorry to my mother.<\/p>\n

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\n Molly Olmstead
\n Everyone Hates Him. Why Is His Podcast so Popular?
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The mural is the work of FUBAR PAC (yes, as in the explicit military acronym FUBAR<\/a>, which is a pretty apt take on the current state of our nation), which had $300, 12 hours, and a dream. The group was founded by Jack Inacker, a Philly native, Air Force vet, and, per the official PAC site<\/a>, \u201cexpert hater.\u201d A recent FUBAR demonstration saw \u201ca group of angry Democrats,\u201d as local news outlet Billy Penn described the PAC<\/a>, and local celebrity Philly Elmo<\/a> smashing a Tesla in protest against Elon Musk\u2019s development of DOGE. Now Inacker is on to the next challenge, saying in a social media clip<\/a> that the mural \u201cwill serve as a physical reminder of how J.D. Vance is a fucking weirdo\u201d\u2014the words weird and weirdo having assumed a specifically harsh connotation in Philadelphia<\/a>\u2014\u201cand a total sycophant for Donald Trump.\u201d In a press email, Inacker explained that his may be \u201ca city of murals\u201d but that it\u2019s also \u201ca city of haters\u201d; he \u201cwanted to add to that rich tapestry with some dumb bullshit\u201d that both titillates and seeks to \u201cexpose people to some of the actual, terrible harms\u201d that Trump\u2019s administration is causing.<\/p>\n

Since the mural went up this past weekend, locals have, naturally, begun<\/a> flocking<\/a> to<\/a> the area, transforming it into a viral sacred site of sorts. (If anything, Philadelphians love making a mockery of kakistocracy. It\u2019s a pastime as sacred as climbing greased poles<\/a> and booing our own teams\u2019 players<\/a>.) As I stood by the painting, on my own pilgrimage, multiple passing cars slowed down to take a photo. In one was a middle-aged couple who had driven more than three hours from their Pennsylvanian town to drop their son off at Temple University for the upcoming semester. They were making a point to see the mural before they left the city, and they even took a selfie with it. (\u201cFucking hilarious,\u201d the woman proclaimed.) Another visitor, 54-year-old Loren, was on a semiregular walk from Center City, but this time he had planned the route with the mural as his designated stop. His thoughts on the latest portrait of Vance to grace our city and the internet? \u201cAs long as he hates it, I love it.\u201d Still others\u2014of all apparent ages, ethnicities, and fashion styles\u2014stopped by on my visit to the mural, circling around for a cheery photo before going on their way.<\/p>\n

\"Nadira<\/p>\n

The author, posing with the mural\u2019s unnerving gaze.
\nNadira Goffe<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a Forbidden Behavior in Today\u2019s Restaurants. These Chefs Say It Massively Improved Their Careers.
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Employees Are Being Forced to Do Something Excruciating at Work. Sometimes It Involves Sleepovers.
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I Knew the Hollywood Version of My Parents\u2019 Country. Returning There With Them Was Entirely Different.
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J.D. Vance Is the Star of a Mocking New Mural. I Went to Witness It in All Its Glory.
\n <\/a><\/p>\n

Inacker told me that Sulimay\u2019s had been one of the first small businesses to volunteer after he put out a public call on Reddit for wall space. Restaurant operator Chad Todd (self-identifying as \u201cowner, chef, antagonist\u201d)\u00a0told me over Instagram that he \u201ccan\u2019t be complicit and not do anything\u201d about the havoc this administration is wreaking simply \u201cbecause it\u2019s not happening to me.\u201d Both Inacker and Sulimay\u2019s have reported that the response to the mural has been overwhelmingly positive and much larger than anticipated, although there\u2019s been some amount of pushback too. When it comes to the naysayers, Sulimay\u2019s stands firm: \u201cThese poor brainwashed people saying they will never eat here! I don\u2019t care. If I wanted them to eat here, I\u2019d put pictures on the menu.\u201d<\/p>\n

At its core, the mural just makes sense in Philadelphia. Kara, a visitor to the mural who had walked from down the block with her dogs, quipped: \u201cI guess if Virginia is for lovers, Philly is for haters.\u201d You\u2019ve got that right, Kara: The small print on the City of Brotherly Love\u2019s spiritual contract is to recognize that you can\u2019t have love without its opposite. Inacker stood firm on actualizing that ethos, explaining, in an email: \u201cJ.D. Vance gets a lot of hate. But it\u2019s not enough. We can do better.\u201d Still, that\u2019s not all he has in store. In a follow-up email, he teased an ominous promise of all the love that\u2019s yet to come: \u201cWait \u2019til we start adding hats for Halloween.\u201d<\/p>\n

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