Community Notes Calls Out the AP for ‘Misleading’ Headline About Vance’s School Shooting Remark
After being called out by Community Notes for a “misleading” headline about Sen. JD Vance, the Associated Press (AP) deleted both its X post and the article’s headline, which featured a quote from the Republican candidate related to school shootings.
In the article, the media giant alleged that Vance said school shootings are “a fact of life.” The quote was pulled from a speech Vance delivered Thursday night in Phoenix, Arizona, following the Apalachee High School shooting that occurred Wednesday morning.
“I don’t like that this is a fact of life,” Vance said. “But if you are a psycho and you want to make headlines, you realize that our schools are soft targets. And we have got to bolster security so if a psycho wants to walk through the front door and kill a bunch of children they’re not able.”
The AP ran its story with the headline, “JD Vance says school shootings are a ‘fact of life,’ calls for better security,” making it appear as if he had said that school shootings are a normal part of life.
The post received heavy criticism on X after Community Notes placed a disclaimer on the post stating that the headline was misleading and offered Vance’s actual statement as proof.
After receiving over 2 million views, the AP deleted the post.
Thursday evening, the AP replaced the post with a new headline, which read, “JD Vance says he laments that school shootings are a ‘fact of life’ and calls for better security.” It noted that it was updated to “add context to the partial quote” it had taken from Vance.
As the AP tried to conduct damage control, its deceptive headline had already begun to be used to attack Vance. The Harris campaign had used the outlet’s previous information to criticize Vance.
“JD Vance responds to the deadly shooting in Georgia by saying school shootings are just “a fact of life” and attacking common sense gun safety reform,” the clip said.
Harris’ running mate, Tim Walz, also shared the misinformation on his X account, calling Vance’s statement “pathetic.”
The Harris campaign went as far as releasing a statement condemning Vance while using his quote out of context, stating that former President Donald Trump and Vance believe that school shootings are a “fact of life” and that they will “always choose” gun lobbying and the NRA over keeping children safe.
In a statement to Fox Digital News, Vance spokesperson William Martin blasted the AP for using a false narrative and said that it had lost “all credibility.”
“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,” he told the outlet. “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 to 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.”
In the article, the media giant alleged that Vance said school shootings are “a fact of life.” The quote was pulled from a speech Vance delivered Thursday night in Phoenix, Arizona, following the Apalachee High School shooting that occurred Wednesday morning.
“I don’t like that this is a fact of life,” Vance said. “But if you are a psycho and you want to make headlines, you realize that our schools are soft targets. And we have got to bolster security so if a psycho wants to walk through the front door and kill a bunch of children they’re not able.”
The AP ran its story with the headline, “JD Vance says school shootings are a ‘fact of life,’ calls for better security,” making it appear as if he had said that school shootings are a normal part of life.
The post received heavy criticism on X after Community Notes placed a disclaimer on the post stating that the headline was misleading and offered Vance’s actual statement as proof.
After receiving over 2 million views, the AP deleted the post.
Thursday evening, the AP replaced the post with a new headline, which read, “JD Vance says he laments that school shootings are a ‘fact of life’ and calls for better security.” It noted that it was updated to “add context to the partial quote” it had taken from Vance.
As the AP tried to conduct damage control, its deceptive headline had already begun to be used to attack Vance. The Harris campaign had used the outlet’s previous information to criticize Vance.
“JD Vance responds to the deadly shooting in Georgia by saying school shootings are just “a fact of life” and attacking common sense gun safety reform,” the clip said.
Harris’ running mate, Tim Walz, also shared the misinformation on his X account, calling Vance’s statement “pathetic.”
The Harris campaign went as far as releasing a statement condemning Vance while using his quote out of context, stating that former President Donald Trump and Vance believe that school shootings are a “fact of life” and that they will “always choose” gun lobbying and the NRA over keeping children safe.
In a statement to Fox Digital News, Vance spokesperson William Martin blasted the AP for using a false narrative and said that it had lost “all credibility.”
“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,” he told the outlet. “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 to 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.”
70-79, M
