U.S. Sen. J.D. Vance continued to lower the bar for responsible statesmanship when he told CNN’s Dana Bash that he’s prepared to push false narratives when he deems it necessary to generate news media coverage.
During Bash’s “State of the Union” program Sept. 15, Vance had a chance to acknowledge that the vile rumors he and former President Donald Trump perpetuated about Haitian immigrants living in Springfield, Ohio, have no basis in fact. Instead, he did two things.
First, he doubled down on the notion that if constituents make inflammatory and/or defamatory claims, he bears no responsibility as a U.S. senator and a candidate for vice president to perform any due diligence before repeating them.
“I’m talking to my constituents, and I’m hearing terrible things,” he said.
Oh. Well, then, by all means, repeat them as gospel, if that’s what you’re hearing.
Then he suggested that it’s OK to promote false claims — even ones that can harm people and communities — if doing so prompts a conversation about an otherwise legitimate public issue.
“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,” he concluded.
To be clear, at no point during the Sept. 10 presidential debate did Trump say we need to augment the resources for Springfield. He didn’t say that the news media and/or policymakers need to talk about what happens when roughly 15,000 immigrants settle into a small...
Claim An Indian Hindu man, Bhuvesh Patel, caught attempting to start a fire with a blowtorch in wildfire-hit Woodland Hills, Los Angeles. Fact Claim is false, suspect identified as Mexican nationa...