Former ESPN host Sarah Spain is going viral for comments she made about United States Vice President JD Vance earlier this month.
Spain, who spent several years in a variety of roles for ESPN, explained that she is covering the U.S. women’s hockey team at the Winter Olympics in Italy. Midway through the first period of the U.S. women’s team’s 5-1 victory over Czechia, Spain noticed the Secret Service moving into a nearby section, with Vance and a child following them. Vance, Second Lady Usha Vance, and their children — Ewan, Vivek, and Mirabel — all traveled to Italy for the opening ceremonies.
United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio joined Vance and his family later, much to Spain’s chagrin.
“When I see JD Vance’s eyeliner face, I literally feel ill,” Spain said.
Ex ESPN personality Sarah Spain claims she felt “ill” sitting near JD Vance at the Winter Olympics while branding him a “demon.”
“When I see JD Vance’s eyeliner face, I literally feel ill. I said, ‘I feel like I just looked at a demon,’ like the devil, and I don’t even believe… pic.twitter.com/5svnyBo9pT
— Oli London (@OliLondonTV) February 14, 2026
Spain went one step further, remarking that she felt like she had “just looked at a demon, like the devil, and I don’t even believe in that.”
“My body felt like when you have been spooked and you have a little tingle that feels like, ‘Oh, something’s not right,’” Spain vented, “or like when you get in a situation and you feel like, ‘Oh, some of the energy’s bad, something could go wrong here, maybe I should get out of here,’ or ‘something’s dangerous, this doesn’t feel right.’ That’s what my body felt like. And I was in no way prepared to see him.”
Although Spain made her comments on the Feb. 6 episode of her “Good Game with Sarah Spain” podcast, her remarks only began gaining traction on Friday evening via a New York Post story. An X post from @OliLondonTV had more than 1 million views in its first 15 hours online.
Spain addressed the backlash in a Bluesky post Saturday afternoon, referring to Vance as a “pedophile-protecting American” and calling her critics “cotton-heated.” She also accused Vance’s supporters of sending death threats and insulting her appearance.
Hey Sarah, why are zero-follower count troll accounts posting comments about how fat and ugly you are on your posts all of a sudden?
GREAT QUESTION 👇🏻
— Sarah Spain ✨ (@sarahspain.com) February 14, 2026 at 1:39 PM
“It’s just people who are currently in favor of what our administration is doing in this country,” Spain told her followers, “and I couldn’t give two [expletives] about their opinion of me. … Let’s care more about people who are protecting those who [sexually assault] kids and murder American citizens than the journalists who call them out for it.”
Neither Vance nor Rubio had responded to Spain’s comments as of publication.
Spain also criticized photographers, accusing them of foregoing the action to instead take pictures of Vance and Rubio. Additionally, Spain said the Secret Service blocked “half the ice” and impacted her ability to watch the game.
Spain rose to prominence in the mid-2010s as a panelist on ESPN’s popular but since-canceled “Around the Horn” and, among other roles, co-hosted multiple radio shows. She co-wrote her first book, “Runs In The Family,” alongside Las Vegas Raiders running backs coach Deland McCullough last June.
