The media has been at it again, giving their full and obvious support to the Democrats while consistently creating fake controversies—see “Cat Lady” and “Arlington National Cemetery”—when it comes to Republicans. We’re used to that, but sometimes they go to even greater lengths and misrepresent or even outright distort GOP politicians’ positions and words.
Take the comments of Vice Presidential Candidate JD Vance Thursday about the tragic school shooting in Georgia which left four people dead. Vance:
“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 at our schools. We’ve 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.” [Emphasis mine.]
But here was the Associated Press headline about the event: JD Vance says school shootings are a ‘fact of life,’ calls for better security.
They’ve now changed it, and as of this writing, it says, JD Vance says he laments that school shootings are a ‘fact of life’ and calls for better security. Notice the addition of the word “laments.”
After over 2.5 million people viewed the egregiously misleading headline against JD Vance, the AP has deleted their post
Around 70% of people only read the headline when consuming news online. https://t.co/R68aEjwDhu pic.twitter.com/4ep3xDSOli
— Ashley St. Clair (@stclairashley) September 6, 2024
Now, you might accuse me of nitpicking, and say that the AP accurately reported some of the words that Vance actually said. But I would submit to you that the several words they left out change the meaning of his remarks entirely and make it seem like he’s just some cold-hearted Republican MAGA Monster who’s just gotten used to school shootings and isn’t all that concerned about them.
Not only did he say the opposite—”I don’t like that this is a fact of life”—but he offered concrete solutions on how to address the pernicious problem: provide better security at schools.
🚨New: The AP has officially deleted a tweet which deliberately misquoted JD Vance on school shootings as “a fact of life”
Vance said “I don’t like that this is a fact of life, but if you are a psycho and you want to make headlines, you realize that our schools are soft targets” pic.twitter.com/5cZgb96ekY
— The Calvin Coolidge Project (@TheCalvinCooli1) September 6, 2024
These things can be subtle—unlike the media’s obsession with the Russia, Russia, Russia lies or the “very fine people” hoax—but they’re not accidental. If you don’t believe me, ask yourself a question: when was the last time you saw one of these “mistakes” happen against a Democrat? If your answer is “never,” you’re not alone.
Do you honestly believe this CNN headline was an “accident?”
Network of No Shame: CNN Originally Reported That Murdered Hamas Hostage ‘Had Died,’ Didn’t Mention How
Kamala Harris wasted no time in jumping in on the gaslighting, and the Harris-Walz campaign issued a duplicitous statement Thursday night that further promoted the dishonesty over what Vance actually said:
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
Disgusting.
They’ve completely thrown any semblance of honest discourse out the window. We will likely see plenty more of this as we race headlong into the election, but RedState, our readers, and everybody else needs to continue to call it out for what it really is: a pack of lies.
