As Matt covered at the time, the Associated Press on Thursday night posted a false headline about Sen. JD Vance (R-OH), the Republican nominee for vice president. A post and headline claimed that Vance said that school shootings are a "fact of life." In reality, however, Vance said, "I don't like that this is a fact of life," with his remarks coming the day after four people were murdered and nine were murdered at Apalachee High School in Winder, Georgia. The post was up for less than two hours, but still long enough to do damage, especially as the Harris-Walz campaign promoted the false narrative.
Deleted post: 2.2 million impressions
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) September 6, 2024
Corrected post: 100k impressions pic.twitter.com/4Q5tpIoGXn
As of Friday morning, the topic is still trending over X as "JD Vance on School Shootings: 'Fact of Life.'" Vice President Kamala Harris went with the "fact of life" line in a quoted repost of the Kamala HQ account, as did Gov. Tim Walz (D-MN), her running mate.
Walz used the word "pathetic," adding, "We can't quit on our kids--they deserve better." By urging the protection of children at schools, though, Vance is very much not "quit[ting] on our kids."
School shootings are not just a fact of life.
— Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) September 6, 2024
It doesn’t have to be this way. We can take action to protect our children—and we will. https://t.co/Oi8s9MfgvU
This is pathetic. We can’t quit on our kids — they deserve better. https://t.co/ozYdvpDJ4u
— Tim Walz (@Tim_Walz) September 6, 2024
That wasn't all, though. A statement from the Harris-Walz campaign, which also reposted the clip, not only went with the "fact of life" line, but also claimed Vance said, "We have to get over it," which he didn't even say. Vance spoke out against making schools "soft targets. Meanwhile, Harris called for removing armed school resource officers (SROs) during her failed presidential campaign in 2020.
The statement then used such a claim to claim that "Vice President Harris and Governor Walz know we can take action to keep our children safe and keep guns out of the hands of criminals. Donald Trump and JD Vance will always choose the NRA and gun lobby over our children. That is the choice in this election."
Harris is not only the sitting vice president, but also leads the White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention.
Our statement on JD Vance calling school shootings “a fact of life” https://t.co/8OfUFHHzaL pic.twitter.com/rFFF3i4qa2
— Kamala HQ (@KamalaHQ) September 6, 2024
The DNC War Room put out a statement on Thursday night similarly lambasting Vance.
When it comes to the AP's subsequent post, users were still quick to chime in to cast blame on the outlet for going with such a narrative, many pointing out that the change came after they were caught and risked being hit with a correction from Community Notes.
It wasn't merely the post, but also the headline on Vance's comments, as screenshots show. The headline now reads "JD Vance says he laments that school shootings are a 'fact of life' and calls for better security," though it doesn't appear there has been any kind of a correction.
It was more than just the post, sweetheart. pic.twitter.com/JOzMyfH0MN
— U.S. Ministry of Truth (@USMiniTru) September 6, 2024
William Martin, a spokesperson for Vance, provided a statement for Townhall blasting the AP for their false post.
"This is yet another case of the fake news media brazenly lying about a Republican politician. Senator Vance said exactly the opposite of what the Associated Press claimed. It should come as no surprise that the AP lost any and all credibility it had years ago, because they will lie about literally anything in order prop up the Democrats. Meanwhile, Kamala Harris has called for all police officers to be removed from schools, putting children all over America at risk. It's yet another example of how Kamala Harris's weak, failed, and dangerously liberal agenda makes her unfit for office," he said.
In sharing Harris' post expressing outrage about Vance's "fact of life" comments taken out of context, Stephen L. Miller raised a larger point about how the media has been covering for the Harris-Walz campaign.
"The media is running Kamala Harris's campaign start saying it out loud and often," Miller pointed out.
This entire false talking point started with an AP tweet, and they are all going with it. Despite the fact that AP deleted it. Or doesn't matter to them.
— Stephen L. Miller (@redsteeze) September 6, 2024
The media is running Kamala Harris's campaign start saying it out loud and often
Other liberal media outlets also used the same line that the AP did to go after Vance, and even after they deleted their original post. "JD Vance calls school shootings 'a fact of life,' faces pushback," read a headline from Steve Benen from Friday morning for MSNBC's MaddowBlog. Meanwhile, it was the AP that received the backlash.
This is certainly a pattern for the AP. As we covered last month, the outlet has been looking to cover up for the Harris-Walz campaign, especially when it comes to Harris' role in the Biden-Harris administration's botched withdrawal from Afghanistan that resulted in the death of 13 U.S. servicemembers on August 26, 2021.
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