Rep. Brad Sherman of California faced public criticism Friday after photos circulated online showing him looking at explicit images on an iPad while aboard a commercial flight.

The images were posted on social media by a fellow passenger who said the flight included multiple small children.

The photos showed Sherman, 71, scrolling through images of topless women and other explicit material.

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The passenger who posted the images wrote, “Why did California Congressman Brad Sherman feel it was appropriate to look at porn on his iPad during a flight today? His district deserves better representation than this!!”

The post went viral within hours.

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White House communications director Steven Cheung shared one of the photos on X, which showed Sherman with his mouth open as he looked at his device, and wrote, “Bruh. What a total gooner.”

Sherman, who represents California’s 32nd Congressional District, denied that he was intentionally viewing pornographic material.

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Speaking to Punchbowl News, Sherman said the images appeared as pop-up ads while he was browsing X’s “For You” feed.

“If I see a picture of a woman, might I look at it longer than a sunset? Yeah,” he told the outlet.

He said he “must’ve looked at more than 1000 posts” and that the photographs appeared “because of the algorithms.”

He added, “Is it pornography? I don’t think Elon Musk thinks so.”

Sherman acknowledged that it was inappropriate to view such images in a public setting.

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He then shifted the conversation by calling on the Trump Administration to “release the Epstein Files” following the release of emails by Democrats seeking to link President Donald Trump to Jeffrey Epstein’s criminal activities.

The emails, however, did not substantiate the claims.

Instead, they showed prominent Democrats contacting Epstein in 2017 in attempts to obtain information about President Trump.

The messages indicated that Epstein expressed strong dislike for Trump, contradicting long-running claims that the two were close.

One set of documents released by Democrats redacted the name of Virginia Giuffre, a key accuser in the Epstein case who testified under oath that President Trump had no involvement in Epstein’s crimes.

Giuffre publicly supported President Trump during the 2024 campaign and had praised his efforts to pursue accountability in the Epstein investigation.

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Sherman did not address those contradictions when asked about the emails.

The controversy surrounding the photos circulated online throughout Friday, prompting continued questions from constituents and reporters.

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