Social media influencer Amanda McGonigle filed a lawsuit Tuesday against the Trump administration after she was barred from Vice President J.D Vance’s event in Bangor this spring.
McGonigle, who lives in Massachusetts, said she registered to attend Vance’s May event but was turned away by Secret Service agents who told her they “knew where she stood.”
Anahita Sotoohi, with the ACLU of Maine, said turning McGonigle away from the event violated her First Amendment rights.
“We have a political figure putting on an event that is open to the public, it was taxpayer-funded, when all of those things are true, someone can’t be kept out of that event because of their political views, because that violates the First Amendment, and yet that’s exactly what happened to Amanda,” Sotoohi said.
McGonigle runs accounts with the handle @CatsOnACouch that mock Vance and has amassed millions of followers across her social media platforms.
Sotoohi said the comedic nature of McGonigle’s online account shouldn’t diminish the merits of the case.
“Even though maybe Amanda’s Instagram account might feel a little silly, and it is a joke, right? It is comedic, literally. But the First Amendment rights that we are asserting for her here are incredibly important to anyone who wants to criticize the government,” Sotoohi said.
Sotoohi said the lawsuit seeks a finding that McGonigle was discriminated against based on her views and to ensure that she can attend vice presidential events in the future.
This story appears through a media partnership with Maine Public.
