Vice President JD Vance hoped to expand his social media presence by creating an account on Bluesky. However, the launch on Wednesday started out stormy, as he was first suspended and then met with outrage from Democrats who consider the platform to be a “safe space” from conservative views.

Bluesky, created in 2019, gained popularity during the 2024 election and now has roughly 30 million users, according to Pew Research. It is a rival to X, which is owned by Elon Musk.

“Hello Bluesky, I’ve been told this app has become the place to go for common sense political discussion and analysis. So I’m thrilled to be here to engage with all of you,” Vance wrote in his first post.