J.D. Vance Faces Most Embarrassing Rumor (and Fact-Check) of His Life

Now that Senator J.D. Vance is Donald Trump’s running mate, he’s the subject of an internet rumor that he had sex with couch cushions in his younger days.

The rumors were so prevalent that Snopes and the Associated Press both were forced to debunk the tale. As the fact-checkers note, the rumor appears to have originated from an X post on July 15 from user rickrudescalves, who has since protected his account.

The rumor was that Vance told the story in his memoir, Hillbilly Elegy, but, as the AP and Snopes found, there is no such story in the book. That didn’t stop the rumor from spreading across the internet, even being picked up by actress and comedian Kathy Griffin.

Curiously, the AP took down its fact-check Thursday morning, spurring internet users to joke about how even the global news outlet can’t confidently rule it was a lie.

While there’s an old expression that “any publicity is good publicity,” Vance probably wants this embarrassing rumor to go away. Unfortunately for him, the subsequent fact-checks have extended its life, and the Trump-Vance campaign may soon have to deal with questions asking about it.

Even if the rumor does eventually go away, there are plenty of other negative stories about Vance that are backed up by facts. The Trump campaign has tried in vain to distance itself from the conservative playbook Project 2025, but Vance happened to write the foreword to a book by the plan’s lead author, Heritage Foundation president Kevin Roberts. He is using his campaign speeches to praise Diet Mountain Dew, and he has a long record of criticizing Trump that is being unearthed every day. Plus, he has ties to tech moguls with disturbing ideas about reordering society.

After President Biden withdrew from the 2024 election and handed the reins to Vice President Kamala Harris earlier this week, the Trump campaign is reportedly second-guessing the decision to bring on Vance as Trump’s running mate. Embarrassing rumors certainly won’t quell these discussions within the campaign. Then again, there are several embarrassing stories of Trump that have been floating around for years.