JD Vance defends pet-eating remarks: 'The media has a responsibility to fact-check'

[Dennis Donovan]

Link to tweet

Tim O'Brien
JD Vance defended his lies about Haitian immigrants eating pets during a Tuesday rally, saying that “the media has a responsibility to fact-check” his stories – not him.

JD Vance defends pet-eating remarks: ‘The media has a responsibility to fact-check’

Republican VP nominee claims at Wisconsin rally that constituents told him ‘they’d seen something in Springfield’

Alice Herman in Eau Claire, Wisconsin

Tue 17 Sep 2024 20.29 EDT

JD Vance defended his comments about Haitian immigrants eating pets during a Tuesday rally, saying that “the media has a responsibility to fact-check” stories – not him.

The rally in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, came two days after the Ohio senator told CNN host Dana Bash it was OK “to create stories” to draw attention to issues his constituents care about, regarding inflammatory and unfounded claims that Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, had eaten residents’ pets.

The comments, in which he appeared to say that politicians can brazenly lie, drew immediate rebuke. But during his rally, Vance defended them and claimed that numerous constituents had told him “they’d seen something in Springfield”.

“On top of it, if there are certain people who refuse to listen to them, who refuse to take their concerns seriously,” he said, “that’s when it’s my job as United States senator to listen to my constituents.”

/snip

Listening to your constituents and spreading uninvestigated rumors are two different things. Not to mention you kept spreading the rumor AFTER the media thoroughly fact-checked it and found it was false!

[GoCubsGo]

1. Did he sleep through the debate?

Or, did VP Harris' ass-whipping of his Dear Leader traumatize him so much that he missed the moderators' fact-checking. Or, is this just the usual GOP gaslighting.

I'll take "Gaslighting" for a thousand, Alex.

[underpants]

2. I see why the hillbillies beat him up on his summer visits

My wife listened to his book on tape. I wasn’t aware that on his summer visits to WV the local kids picked on him. He was a tubby kid and an outsider. The trashing of the entire community at the end of his book seems to make more sense.

[Biophilic]

3. This guy is really something else.

I think in some ways scarier than trump. He just seems to take absolutely no responsibility for himself or his actions. It’s like he’s 7 years old.

[newdeal2]

7. Two sides of the same coin

Vance is the more polished (if you can believe it) and youthful version compared to Trump.

[haele]

34. He has a certain amount of Tech Bro attitude and cleverness.

Enough to make it through Yale without the Alumni advantage. At least at one time, he had a certain amount of innate intelligence and humanity, especially if he was able to woo his wife - by all accounts, a very capable lawyer - at University.

But it's pretty obvious he's still a middle class bullied nerd who needed the GI Bill to get to the point his glibness could get him into Yale. He doesn't seem to know how to act as if he was a leader; he reminds me of a marketing exec in a mid-sized corporation. He talks too fast, doesn't seem to really listen or consider, and always seems to be trying to make a sale.

I haven't read his book, so I have no idea how he got networked into the Tech Bro world. But, both the tech world and financial sector are filled with sycophantic mid-manager types with dreams of an executive suite, and I'm pretty sure he just managed to find that winning lottery of events to propel him to a position just under the big boys.

Haele

[mopinko]

9. and he's gonna 25a tsf as soon as he can get away w it.

[Hekate]

37. That's what I see as well

[allegorical oracle]

12. Your point is a good one. It dawned on me the other day that if

the 78-year-old guy is re-elected POTUS, and he chokes to death on a Big Mac, then another mean, spiteful man-child takes charge. AND, if Repugs keep the U.S.House majority, sanctimonious Mike Johnson (who believes the earth is only 6,000 years old) would be just a heartbeat away from the WH.

Terrifying.

[dalton99a]

18. Vance is far more dangerous.

[allegorical oracle]

22. Agreed. Was simply pointing to the fact that a Repug victory in Nov. is

potentially producing a veritable string of danger.

[UpInArms]

4. I have heard about people talking from both sides of their mouths,

but this freak of nature takes that even further … his addled brain has incorporated a five dimensional fact free zone where he leaps from plane to plane with a seamless free flow of utter nonsense.

[imanamerican63]

5. Fact check this, JDV moron!

That fact that you and your running mate spew hate filled rhetoric lies is beyond comprehension. You know these lies will get people hurt or killed. If only and only if you have the courage to speak the truth, you might get someone to listen? Oh wait, those morons who do listen to your lies, thinks you are telling them the truth. But it’s not! So, please, for the Grace of God, shut up. You have done enough damage already!

[grumpyduck]

6. Well, he does have a point

about the media's responsibility to fact-check.

Now if they just did it enough, especially with these assholes, maybe (ha!) they wouldn't lie so much.

I so wish this PoS would [insert your fave here].

[PJMcK]

8. Vance is a lying hack

It is his responsibility to know if the things he says are real or not. He wants to lead a country of over 300 million people and he thinks it isn't his responsibility to know if what he is saying is factual or not. Period.

Vance and Trump make the perfect pair of lying assholes. Pure Republicans.

[Ferrets are Cool]

10. Best part was him calling Haiti, Hatia. (pronounced HayShaa)

Fucking misogynistic bastard.

[KarenS]

11. Sooooo It's ok to lie bec the media is supposed to not print it??

I understand why Vance & Trump are on the same ticket,,,,

but dang,,,,

[Danmel]

13. Disgusting hypocrite

But but but when they fact check, they're picking on him and ganging up and their broadcast licenses should be revoked. I'm so confused.

[sanatanadharma]

14. Rewriting the commandments, this time about lying

See, JD understands that God never speaks clearly and we need to interpret Gods words.
It is just like Trump in this way; telling it like it is but the 'is' is lost far back in the weaves and dust.

Do not lie actually means do not believe lies, according to Vance.

[colorado_ufo]

29. Exactly fits, "Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor."

Which is just what he is doing to the Haitian community and others!

[Diraven]

15. Didn't Trump literally say ABC

Should have their broadcast license revoked for daring to fact check him during the debate?

[Midnight Writer]

20. Absolutely. The GOP is the pushmi-pullyu of American politics.

[SWBTATTReg]

16. I think that this goes w/o saying, but unfortunately, I do have to say it, that our leaders have a serious duty to the

American people to tell the truth, pleasant or not. Nothing but the truth.

I'm sick and tired of tRUMP's constant stream of lies, I'll be so glad that he'll be eliminated from consideration in Nov. 2024, and hopefully, it'll be forever by then, tRUMP will be too old afterwards. If he wants to try again, he'll be laughed off the stage. By the way, he's already too old/too demented already, showing amply evidence too of his senility.

[dalton99a]

17. "I can lie all I want - Catch me if you can"

[travelingthrulife]

19. Also he is a Senator of that state. All he had to do was call officials and ask

When the media fact checks him, he calls it fascism.

[sinkingfeeling]

21. They have and you are a liar.

[BlueWavePsych]

23. What an asshole!

[DallasNE]

24. Good Grief, It Was Only 3-4 Weeks Ago

When Trump was complaining bitterly about censoring free speech by fact-checking it. Whiplash! You don't get to have your cake and eat it too.

Today it is useless to ask Vance/Trump what their concept of a plan is because they will just lie about it 100% of the time. The closest thing to the truth that we currently have is Project 2025.

[IbogaProject]

25. I heard via reliable internet rumors that he was a known date rape preditor

I also heard he cheats on taxes and in business, sort of like his running mate.

[paleotn]

26. Keep digging, Jethro.

[RainCaster]

27. Says the man who fucks couches

Like he says, I have no responsibility for the truth of that statement. It's up to "the media" to ascertain the validity of that statement.

[Basso8vb]

28. Fuck you, JD.

[global1]

30. And When ABC Was Fact Checking The Harris/Tr**p Debate......

they didn't like it!!!

[eShirl]

31. Just assume he's lying out his ass until proven otherwise.

[jmowreader]

32. JD, what are we ever going to do with you?

You’re the reason PolitiFact is changing its Truth-o-Meter’s worst rating from “Pants on Fire” to “Completely Full of Crap.”

Dude, it’s already well known that Haitians in Springfield aren’t eating cats and that the person who invented that lie has already walked it back. Why in the hell are you still pushing it?

[Paladin]

33. JD Vance has absolutely no responsibility to tell the truth.

As he proves, every single fucking day. I hope trump ends Vance's political career, as he has for so many other ass-kissers.

[twodogsbarking]

35. I'm not saying this is true but he might be "bat shit crazy".

The phrase "bat shit crazy" is a slang expression that conveys a sense of extreme madness or craziness. It is often used to describe someone who is behaving in a wild, irrational, or unpredictable manner.

[Hekate]

36. So who exactly does he consider his constituents?

Apparently the entire town of Springfield can just eff right off — white, black, and brown — because they are all just pawns on JD’s path to the White House.

[Escurumbele]

38. He is right, the media has the obligation to fact-check, the thing is, vance you idiot, what you are saying IS NOT FACTS

What a moron...all that money that was wasted in Yale. I don't think Yale produced a moron, he was a moron before he went to Yale.

I did read his book, and saw the movie, and I do feel he conned many of us, and that is why I think his book should be fact-checked.

[Aussie105]

39. The media should do their lie-checking before echoing nut jobs, sure.

Vance:

'Them brown people! Eating chickens, sheep, pigs, cows! What next? Eating the symbol of American patriotism, turkeys? Even feeding those to their pets? Oh, the shock, the horror!'

Media: 'All Americans do that! Shuttup Vance! And back away from that couch!'

Vance's credibility as a politician and human being shot to pieces, and all by his own hands!
(And he took the MSM down the rabbit hole along with him.)

[alarimer]

40. NO, you have a responsibility not to fucking lie!

Why is that so hard?

But, yes, the media definitely needs to call a lie a lie, not a "disputed" fact.

[Solly Mack]

41. You must fact-check my lies! *Then* Why are you fact-checking my lies? You must be biased!

LMAO

[lonely bird]

42. Just a question

As a recent, 2019, convert to Catholicism, what does the church say about lying?

More importantly, what does your God say about lying?

[Rebl2]

43. How about

you check your facts before you repeat this nonsense asshole.

[tishaLA]

44. They love that they're now controlling the media narrative

and, while I feel incredible sympathy for the residents of Springfield whose lives have been upended by his outrageous mendacity, I wish we'd just stop talking about it and get back in the driver's seat. They don't believe their lying makes any difference because it's already baked into the repub brand and it puts us on a mission of whack-a-mole shooting down their lies.