JD Vance admits he's willing to 'create stories' to get media attention

In a CNN interview with Dana Bash, Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance defended spreading the debunked claims about Haitian immigrants eating pets in Springfield, Ohio. When pressed on the lack of evidence, Vance made a stunning admission: "If I have to create stories so that the American media actually pays attention to the suffering of the American people, then that's what I'm going to do." Vance acknowledged that "cat memes" had drawn more media attention than his underlying immigration concerns. The admission was widely condemned as an explicit endorsement of political disinformation.

"If I have to create stories so that the American media actually pays attention to the suffering of the American people, then that's what I'm going to do." — CNN State of the Union interview with Dana Bash, September 15, 2024