Trump Administration Violated Anti-JD Vance Creator’s First Amendment Rights, She Claims
The Instagram creator behind @catsonacouch, an account dedicated to mocking Vice President J.D. Vance, sued the Trump administration on Tuesday, saying that by banning her from events where Vance was speaking her First Amendment rights were violated.
Amanda McGonigle filed suit against the Office of the President, Secret Service and the director of the Presidential Advance team, alleging they unlawfully prohibited her from going to an event in Maine where Vance was speaking.
McGonigle runs an Instagram account that describes itself as “a petty cat account” that “exists purr-ly to troll the current administration & have more followers than J.D. Vance,” though at 1.9 million followers, she’s still shy of Vance’s 2.9 million.
She says that that after she registered to attend an event where Vance was speaking in May, she was approached by five Secret Service agents while waiting in line for it that she and her friend couldn’t enter because it was a “private event” and “we know where you stand”
She also says she was stopped from attending a Vance event in Iowa, saying she registered for the event but never received a confirmation she could attend.
The suit was filed by the American Civil Liberties Union on Tuesday after McGonigle first announced her intention to file a lawsuit in May, saying on Instagram, “Someone in this administration is about to learn what happens when you mess with a little girly pop who has time and a flair for drama.”
The White House and Vance’s office have not yet responded to requests for comment, and the Secret Service declined to comment.
McGonigle said in her May Instagram post that despite being told by the Secret Service the Maine event was private, “every single sign pointed to this being a public event,” such as her receiving a confirmation directly from Vance’s office and the event materials carrying the White House seal. “Either it was a public event as advertised and I was denied entry because I think J.D. Vance is a sentient jar of mayonnaise, or it was a private event and taxpayer dollars were being used to fund J.D. Vance’s little ‘safe space,’” McGonigle said on Instagram. “Either way, it’s giving lawsuit vibes.”
McGonigle’s suit notes she will try to attend more of Vance’s public events in the coming weeks and “express her views as an audience member, including by cheering, booing, and wearing clothing with political messages.” (At the event in Maine, McGonigle reported wearing a shirt saying, “J.D. Vance cured my imposter syndrome.”) Her lawsuit argues there’s “a credible threat that Ms. McGonigle will be excluded from such events” and could face criminal charges, however, without court intervention. The creator wants the court to rule the White House violated her First Amendment rights by barring her from past events, and bar the Trump administration from blocking her from any future events.
Vance has emerged as the likely frontrunner for the 2028 GOP presidential nomination, but continues to struggle with winning Americans’ approval, with recent polling finding on average that some 48% of Americans disapprove of his job performance while 41% approve. McGonigle’s account mocking Vance was borne out of viral comments the vice president made that attracted widespread criticism, as Vance attacked “childless cat ladies” in a 2021 interview that resurfaced during the 2024 election. (He has since called the comment “one of the dumbest things I ever said.”) The “couch” part of her username comes from a viral joke about Vance. McGonigle’s claim she was kept out of a public event comes as the Trump administration has had other instances of restricting access based on coverage or viewpoint, such as barring the Associated Press from restricted areas of the White House after the outlet declined to use the phrase “Gulf of America” instead of “Gulf of Mexico.”