Rep. Brad Sherman (D-CA) found himself doing damage control after being caught scrolling through lewd photos on a recent airline flight — and let’s just say his excuse didn’t come close to passing the smell test.
Ironically, the whole thing surfaced thanks to a left-wing account — the same crowd that attacks Sherman for supposedly not being “progressive” enough on Israel, even though he’s backed pro-Palestinian measures in the past. Punchbowl News reporter John Bresnahan later pressed the congressman about the embarrassing episode.
A bit of a programming note first: The pics below aren’t what I’d describe as ‘pornography,’ though they do involve women who aren’t wearing much:
I just did a 13-minute interview with Sherman regarding this @dearwhitestaff post https://t.co/M3vzIM01pS
— John Bresnahan (@bresreports) November 15, 2025
Hilariously, Sherman tried to pin the whole thing on Elon Musk, insisting the explicit images just “randomly” appeared in his X “For You” feed — as if anyone is buying that excuse.
3/ Sherman: “This was on Twitter. These pictures came up on ‘For You.’”
“I must’ve looked at more than 1000 posts” during his flight, Sherman said.
— John Bresnahan (@bresreports) November 15, 2025
5/ Q. “Do you have a problem with pornography?”
Sherman: “No, I don’t have a problem.”
Sherman said “It’s all about the algorithms,” and asserted these pictures came up in his feed “because of the algorithms.”
— John Bresnahan (@bresreports) November 15, 2025
Was this really just the “algorithms” at work? Sure — that’s possible. In fact, it’s probable. But that still doesn’t get Sherman off the hook, because everyone knows how those algorithms are triggered.
Take my own “For You” tab on X. It’s a mix of right-wing and left-wing political content. Why? Because that’s what I engage with — either reposting someone I agree with or responding to a left-wing post with criticism or a bit of snark.
You know what never shows up in my feed? Half-naked influencer accounts begging people to subscribe to their OnlyFans. Why don’t they? Because I don’t click on that junk. I don’t search for it, I don’t like it, and I don’t interact with it.
So when Sherman claims these explicit images just magically appeared out of nowhere, the rest of us can only roll our eyes. The algorithm shows you what you show interest in — and that says plenty.
So yes, Sherman can point the finger at “the algorithm” all he wants — but everyone knows that algorithm is shaped by his browsing and interaction habits on X. If you spend your time replying to Democrat politicians, the feed gives you more Democrat politicians. And if you spend your time engaging with a very different kind of account… well, the feed adjusts to that too. The whole system is designed to push whatever you show interest in.
By the end of his exchange with Bresnahan, Sherman was already walking back and qualifying his denials — a telltale sign that his story wasn’t holding up.
7/ Sherman: “If you have to fly across the country, you look at a lot of stuff on your tablet.”
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— John Bresnahan (@bresreports) November 15, 2025
Dude, the easiest thing in the world would have been to just own what you did. No one believes you were just fed some random pics of half-naked women in your X feed. Just own it! But asking a Democrat to be honest and forthright about anything is, obviously, a waste of time.
