A Democratic lawmaker is pushing back against allegations that he was viewing pornography while aboard a commercial flight.
Photos emerged on social media of California Representative Brad Sherman, 71, appearing to be staring with his mouth open at women wearing underwear and bikinis on his iPad on X while on board a flight.
“Why did California Congressman Brad Sherman feel it was appropriate to look at porn on his iPad during a flight today?” the original X post read, which has 5.4 million views as of Saturday morning.
But Sherman has denied he was looking at pornography.
Newsweek has contacted Representative Sherman for comment via email.
Why It Matters
The incident highlights the intense scrutiny public officials face in the age of social media, where images can quickly go viral and shape public perception.
What To Know
The photos of Sherman provoked backlash on social media. “Yikes!!!!”Donald Trump Jr. posted.
Representative Nancy Mace said on X: “I don’t want to hear a single peep from anyone in/around Congress, or the media, abt how I stroll through an airport ever again.” Mace was recently filmed berating police officers and Transportation Security Administration (TSA) personnel at a South Carolina airport.
Mace later defended her behavior, sharing surveillance video from the airport on X and accusing reports of being “fake news.”
Meanwhile, White House communications director Steven Cheung wrote on X: “Bruh. What a total gooner,” to which Sherman clapped back: “Bruh. Release the #EpsteinFiles.”
Pressure has been growing on the Trump administration in recent months to release the Epstein files. Some lawmakers allege that delays may be connected to President Donald Trump’s appearances in the files. However, the DOJ says no client list exists.
Republican lawmakers, including Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, have called for full transparency, with Greene stating that “pretty much everyone across the board agrees, release the Epstein files”. Democrats have also pushed for disclosure, with Representative Marc Veasey introducing the Epstein Files Transparency Act to compel the DOJ to declassify and release the records.
Sherman has also called for the files to be released on a number of occasions.
Meanwhile, in an interview with Punchbowl News, Sherman denied he was looking at pornography.
He said photos appeared on the “For You” page of his X feed. “If I see a picture of a woman, might I look at it longer than a sunset? Yeah,” he said. “I must’ve looked at more than 1000 posts.”
According to X, the content shown on a user’s “For You” page is “based on recommendations of accounts you follow or topics you’re interested in.”
Sherman explained that the sexually suggestive images appeared on his feed while he was in the air “because of the algorithms.”
“Is it pornography? I don’t think Elon Musk thinks so,” Sherman told Punchbowl News.
At the same time, he acknowledged that viewing such material in that setting was improper.
“Is it appropriate? No,” Sherman added.
