10
Loading video...
By Maya Mehrara
News Reporter
0
Share
Newsweek is a Trust Project member
See more of our trusted coverage when you search.Prefer Newsweek on Googleto see more of our trusted coverage when you search.
Vice Presidential candidate JD Vance launched his TikTok account by posting a video with a controversial Canadian American influencer group known as the Nelk Boys.
The nine-second video features the four Nelk Boys gifting Vance several cases of Happy Dad hard seltzer, a brand they own. Vance responds, "Thanks dude, we'll use it on the airplane."
Read More on News
Known for their prank videos and vlogs on YouTube, in recent years the Nelk Boys have become more well known for their podcast "Full Send," in which they have interviewed guests including Donald Trump, Andrew Tate, O.J. Simpson, Elon Musk, Tucker Carlson, and more.
Their guests have frequently used the platform to express anti-LGBTQ and misogynistic views, Media Matters reported.
...
In 2022, the Nelk Boys posted a YouTube video in collaboration with Andrew Tate, a kickboxer and self-described "king of toxic masculinity" who has been accused of human trafficking and rape.
Tate has said that he believes women are a man's property and talked about hitting and choking them, The Guardian reported. Tate has also appeared on the Nelk Boys podcast.
Originally from Ontario and now based in Miami, the Nelk Boys group was founded in 2010 by Kyle Forgeard, and the name was an acronym for the original members' names— Nick, Elliot, Lucas, and Kyle.
The group has a history of associating with Trump, joining him onstage at a rally on Air Force One to dance along to the YMCA in 2020. The Nelk Boys' association with Trump's campaign has continued since their viral moment in 2020, as they sold merchandise for his 2024 campaign, according to The Nation.
With more than 8 million subscribers on YouTube and more than 1 billion views, the Nelk Boys' collaboration with Vance is significant.
...
Vance, whose TikTok now has more than 100,000 followers, received over 160,000 likes on the video, and a comment section rife with references to couches, based on a now-viral false rumor about Vance's sexual relations with an "inside-out latex glove shoved between two couch cushions" written by an X user in July.
Vance himself has also ruffled feathers with his comments about women. Not long after his nomination as Trump's VP, Vance's comments from a 2021 interview with Carlson on Fox News resurfaced, as he referred to Harris and other Democrats as "a bunch of childless cat ladies who are miserable at their own lives."
Trump defended Vance's comments in an interview with Fox News and said, "He's not against anything. He loves family. It's very important to him."
Do you have a story we should be covering? Do you have any questions about this article? Contact LiveNews@newsweek.com
View 0 Comments
Submit Correction
View Editorial & AI Guidelines