The Associated Press has been ridiculed for removing a “fact-check” story about an adult hoax about J.D. Vance using a couch and rubber gloves from Trump’s campaign as “unverified.” [their] Please adhere to our “standard editorial process” before publishing.
The article, headlined by the authoritative “AP Fact Check,” was titled “No, J.D. Vance Didn’t Have Sex with Couch,” alluding to the false claim that the Ohio senator detailed a love affair with Couch in his 2016 memoir, “Hillbilly Elegy.”
The obscene hoax quickly spread on social media, reportedly after user X tweeted a description of the lewd act accompanied by a fake quote.
Of course, there’s no such line in Vance’s best-selling book, Hillbilly Elegy, but that didn’t stop the rumor from spreading, and many people, including comedian and famously funny Kathy Griffin, seemed to believe it was true.
After the post went viral, AP fact-checkers swung into action, vowing to do everything in their power to uncover the truth.
The wire service’s rigorous evaluation included poring over the book’s “searchable PDF” for words like “couch” and “sofa,” which appeared a total of 10 times, but never in the context of a sexual act.
“Other users have specifically cited pages 179-181 as the portion of the book where they believe the story appears,” the AP’s conclusion reads in part.
“But there is no mention of sex on the couch in Vance’s memoir.”
The article was published around 3pm on Wednesday and disappeared by Thursday morning, with the link reading:Page is unavailable” Error
“This story, which was not distributed to customers, did not go through our standard editorial process and we are investigating why this happened,” an AP spokesman told The Washington Post.
Author and journalist Noah Rothman called the Associated Press’ decision to remove the article “despicable” for piggybacking on a false claim made by an anonymous user named X, who has fewer than 1,800 followers.
“Last night the Associated Press ran a ‘fact check’ on a completely unknown person claiming that J.D. Vance had sex on a couch. Not because anyone believed it, but because that nonsense gets into the bloodstream. Today it’s gone. So vile.”
CNN senior reporter Andy Kaczynski seemed perplexed by the decision to remove the article, posting a link to the now-removed AP article and saying, “The AP fact-checked a left-wing Twitter joke, but the link is now dead and I can’t find the article on the AP website. What the hell is going on?”
One X user sarcastically speculated in the comments section: “Maybe they backed it out under pressure from Big Couch.”
“Hillbilly Elegy” tells the story of Vance’s rural upbringing in Middletown, Ohio, and how his Kentucky family values shaped his own.
In 2020, it was adapted into a film of the same name, directed by Ron Howard and starring Amy Adams and Glenn Close.
