The Associated Press removes a fact-check claiming JD Vance has not had sex with a couch

The Associated Press has apparently retracted a fact-check published yesterday pinch nan headline, “No, JD Vance did not person activity pinch a couch.” As of Thursday morning, the article page displayed a “page unavailable” correction message.

The fact-check references a fewer joke societal media posts that person been circulating that declare nan Republican vice statesmanlike nominee wrote successful his book Hillbilly Elegy about having activity pinch a couch.

One tweet reads, “In his dreadful novel, ‘Hillbilly Elegy,’ JD Vance described having activity pinch a rubber mitt secured betwixt cushions connected his couch. Republicans chose him to beryllium 1 heartbeat distant from becoming POTUS. Voters successful NC, nan U.S. furnishings capital, should beryllium peculiarly horrified.” (Fact-check: Hillbilly Elegy is simply a memoir, not a novel.)

Another post: “Can’t opportunity for judge but he mightiness beryllium nan first VP prime to person admitted successful a ny times bestseller to fucking an inside-out latex mitt shoved betwixt 2 sofa cushions (vance, hillbilly elegy, pp. 179-181).”

To beryllium clear, Vance did not constitute successful Hillbilly Elegy about having intersexual relations pinch surviving room furniture, and a Snopes debunk remains live astir nan viral joke. The archived type of AP’s fact-check besides notes that there’s nary specified transition successful nan PDF of nan book. But there’s besides technically nary impervious that Vance didn’t person activity pinch a sofa — there’s nary measurement a journalist could genuinely cognize that. He conscionable didn’t constitute astir it.

“The story, which did not spell retired connected nan ligament to our customers, didn’t spell done our modular editing process. We are looking into really that happened,” AP spokesperson Nicole Meir told The Verge in an email.

News reports (and fact-checks specifically) are often worded successful a measurement that cautiously threads a needle — there’s a quality betwixt saying thing definitively didn’t hap versus saying there’s nary grounds of it. My conjecture is that nan AP header was nan problem present because it claims to debunk thing that is unknowable. A header like, “No, JD Vance didn’t constitute astir fucking a couch” possibly would person been much accurate.

And erstwhile you really peel backmost nan layers (turn complete nan cushions?), there’s really nary measurement for immoderate of america to beryllium we didn’t person activity pinch a couch.

Correction, July 25th: A erstwhile type of nan portion misstated that nan AP article was removed arsenic of Friday morning. It was Thursday morning.