Did A Meme On JD Vance Get This Man Deported? US Says No
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Mads Mikkelsen alleged that he was pulled aside by US border officers, taken to a separate room and questioned.
Mads Mikkelsen, a 21-year-old tourist from Tromsø, Norway, alleged that he was denied entry into the United States because of a meme found on his phone mocking Vice President JD Vance. But now, the US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has denied the claim, saying the decision was based on his admitted 'drug use" and not any political content.
CBP Issues Clarification
On X (formerly Twitter), CBP wrote, 'Fact Check: FALSE," while attaching a screenshot of a Daily Mail headline that read: 'Norwegian tourist, 21, is barred from entering the US after ICE guards find meme showing JD Vance with a bald head on his phone."
Refuting this, officials added, 'Mads Mikkelsen was not denied entry for any memes or political reasons. It was for his admitted drug use."
Fact Check: FALSEMads Mikkelsen was not denied entry for any memes or political reasons, it was for his admitted drug use. pic.twitter.com/is9eGqILUq
— CBP (@CBP) June 24, 2025
Pulled Aside And Questioned
The incident took place on June 11 at Newark Airport in New Jersey, where Mikkelsen had landed for a holiday to visit friends in New York and Austin, Texas. He told Norwegian newspaper Nordlys that he was pulled aside by border officers, taken to a separate room and questioned.
'I felt prejudiced, suspected, and simply humiliated even then, in front of many other people at the airport. They took me to a room with several armed guards, where I had to hand over my shoes, mobile phone and backpack," Mikkelsen said.
Mikkelsen claimed that officers questioned him about drug smuggling, terrorism and right-wing extremism.
'They asked direct questions about drug smuggling, terrorist plans and right-wing extremism, completely without reason. They demanded full information about everyone I was going to meet in the US, including name, address, phone number and what they did for work," he added.
JD Vance Meme Found
Mikkelsen said he was told he would be fined $5,000 (approximately Rs 4.3 lakh) or face five years in prison if he didn't provide the password to his phone.
Once officers accessed his phone, they reportedly pointed to two images that they said were problematic. One was a meme of JD Vance with a bald, egg-shaped head, a viral image that had been widely shared online in March, including by the Vice President himself. The other was a picture of Mads holding a wooden pipe that he said he had made years ago. He was eventually told that he wouldn't be allowed to go through with his planned vacation.
'Both pictures had been automatically saved to my camera roll from a chat app. But I really didn't think that these innocent pictures would put a stop to my entry into the country," he explained.
According to Mikkelsen, he tried to explain that the images were harmless jokes, but officials didn't listen. 'I had travelled for 12 hours, slept poorly, and was physically and mentally completely exhausted even before they started the questioning," he continued.
Mikkelsen said that he was strip-searched, fingerprinted, asked to give blood samples and subjected to a facial scan before being sent back to Norway.
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