Who is Caite Upton? JD Vance uses South Carolina Miss Teen USA 2007 contestant to mock Kamala Harris' CNN interview

Former Miss South Carolina Caite Upton found herself caught in a political struggle. On August 29, Kamala Harris and Tim Walz took part in an exclusive CNN interview with host Dana Bash. It was their first joint interview since they became candidates for the presidential and vice presidential nominations. However, their interview was not far away from criticism.

JD Vance, a former United States senator from Ohio, tried to mock the interview by sharing a clip from 2007’s Miss Teen USA, featuring Caite's interaction round. Vance posted the video clip on his X with the caption, ‘I have gotten ahold of the full Kamala Harris CNN interview.’

Caite Upton is an American model and actress. In the clip, the contestant explained why a fifth of Americans cannot locate the United States on a world map. She said this was because some Americans did not have maps. Moreover, she also referred to one of the groups, US Americans.

After JD Vance’s post went viral, Caite Upton took to her X, stating it was a shame for the incident to be brought up after 17 years. She condemned online bullying and called for it to stop, writing:

“It’s a shame that 17 years later this is still being brought up. There’s not too much else to say about it at this point. Regardless of political beliefs, one thing I do know is that social media and online bullying needs to stop.”

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Caite Upton is known for films like Holliston and Neron

Caite Upton was born on March 27, 1989, in Lexington, South Carolina. She is known for her roles in films such as Funny or Die Presents (2007), Holliston (2012), and Neron (2016). She married Charlie McNeil in 2016. In 2021, she got into a conversation with actor and TV host Mario Lopez, who was also the host during the 2007 Miss Teen USA.

Lopez asked Upton what went into her mind when she watched her Q&A session from the pageant. She replied it was an ‘out-of-body’ experience and mentioned that she was a bit surprised by the question as there were no prior rehearsals regarding that.

“Oh Gosh! It is almost surreal. It’s like that wasn’t even me. It’s an out-of-body experience, at least one that I am having now. I am like oh? Who is that? Oh, she is cute. Of, poor thing!” Caite Upton said.

Mario Lopez also revealed that he wanted to help the model during the Q&A session but he couldn’t do so, as he was strictly instructed against it, which could have led to her disqualification. He alleged that there was a miscommunication and probably she did not understand the question.

After the pageant, Caite Upton’s parents found 150 voicemails on their house answering machine, and she received more than 1,000 messages on her Facebook.