JD Vance ridiculed after dolphin-based social media post backfires

Editor's Note: This headline and story have been updated to reflect that there's no definitive proof Sen. J.D. Vance searched for "dolphin porn."

Republican Senator J.D. Vance (R-OH), a staunch ally of former president Donald Trump, was the subject of ridicule this weekend after attempting to post a photo on social media that took aim at content that could be found on the internet.

The Ohio senator was mocked on his own social media post because of a picture that he shared which showed a dolphin apparently attempting to mate with a woman.

"Maybe the internet was a mistake," Vance posted Saturday with the picture, which was captioned with: "Woman gets violated by a dolphin and enjoys it."

The problem, according to the commenters, is that the words "woman" and "dolphin" were highlighted in the image, suggesting that whoever took the screenshot apparently searched for those exact terms.

"Damn you, Internet, for showing people things they search for," former journalist Morten Øverbye wrote in response.

"Why you searching for dolphin porn, my guy?" asked user Matt Ortega.

Charlotte Clymer said, "The bolded words indicate the terms you searched to find this."

User Aaron Meyers echoed those sentiments: "Nuclear level self own posting that with your search terms highlighted."

Freelance writer Charlie Cy also chimed in: "Maybe electing a Senator spending his time Meme-Mill-Generating for clicks was a mistake?"

Conservative anti-Trump activist Rick Wilson also had this to say about Vance's post:

"Well, I did not have 'J.D. Vance searches for dolphin porn' on my Saturday night bingo card, but here we are. Rule 34 never fails," he wrote.