Photo by Zach D Roberts/NurPhoto via AP
The Associated Press published an unusual fact check on Wednesday after several social media accounts shared a claim about Sen. JD Vance (R-OH).
Earlier this month, former President Donald Trump chose Vance to be his vice presidential running mate. The 39-year-old has only held office since 2023 upon being elected after a career in venture capital. He wrote the bestselling memoir Hillbilly Elegy, which details his time as a child in Kentucky. The book has received new attention in the wake of his placement on the Republican ticket.
On Wednesday, many accounts on X (formerly Twitter) and BlueSky proliferated a claim saying that in his book, Vance had sex with a couch.
“Somebody please explain to me how JD Vance, who wrote about humping a couch and has only been a Senator for barely TWO f—— years, thinks he has the right to criticize Kamala Harris’ qualifications,” one viral post on X read.
“In his dreadful novel, ‘Hillbilly Elegy,’ JD Vance described having sex with a rubber glove secured between cushions on his couch,” another alleged. “Republicans chose him to be one heartbeat away from becoming POTUS. Voters in NC, the U.S. furniture capital, should be particularly horrified.”
The AP included the above posts in its fact check, which as of this writing is titled, “No JD Vance did not have sex with a couch.”
The fact check tells the reader that while a PDF search of the book yielded 10 references to “couch” or “couches,” at no time is the furniture engaged in coitus.
Moreover, the AP noted that the words “sofa” and “glove” do not appear anywhere in the book.
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