Vance Attacks Iowa Gubernatorial Candidate Sand as ‘Underwear Model’

Vice President JD Vance attacked Iowa Democratic gubernatorial nominee Rob Sand as a former “underwear model” while calling his supporters “out and out lunatics” during a campaign trip to the state on Friday.

Vance’s remarks came as he campaigned for Republicans in Council Bluffs. He also mentioned Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) and criticized Brooklyn congressional candidate Claire Valdez for remarks made on the Fourth of July holiday.

“Rob’s dream, ever since he was a kid, was to serve the Democrat Party. And aside from a brief stint as an underwear model in Europe — did not expect to be saying those words in Council Bluffs — that’s exactly how he spent his entire career, as a partisan servant to the far left,” Vance stated.

Sand, 44, is currently leading Republican businessman Zach Lahn by an average of 5.2 percentage points in polling ahead of the November 3 midterm election.

The Iowa state auditor and Democratic candidate previously worked as a fashion model in Paris and Milan during his college years, according to a New York Times profile. Purported images from his time modeling, described as Ambercrombie-style, show a young man resembling Sand with minimal clothing, often embracing a woman.

In addition to criticizing Sand's past, Vance also referred to the Democratic front-runner as a “billionaire,” alluding to the wealth of his wife’s family, who control the health and nutrition company Lauridsen Group. Vance also addressed Sand’s stance on school book bans.

“For years, this guy has been saying it is discrimination to follow your deeply held beliefs on what it means to be a man or woman,” Vance said. “That’s what’s led Rob to passionately defend a children’s book about, and I quote, ‘non-binary parents and poly families’. That’s the guy who wants to be your governor. It’s why he’s gone to great lengths to keep those perverted books in your kids’ grade-school libraries.”

Sand’s campaign did not respond to requests for comment.

Vance also targeted New York Democrats, framing the election as a national choice between “common sense versus crazy.” He referenced Valdez’s July 4th social media post, where she called for “liberation from Palestine to Puerto Rico,” drawing a sarcastic comparison to Thomas Jefferson.

Vance also mentioned Ocasio-Cortez, describing her as someone who is “very good” at “learning how to say nothing.”