A spokesman for JD Vance went after The Associated Press for publishing an article Thursday that suggested he had dismissed school shootings as a “fact of life.”
When reached by Fox News Digital, William Martin — a spokesperson for Vance — blasted the AP.
“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. 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 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,” Martin said.
In Phoenix at an event last week, Vance offered his thoughts on a mass shooting Wednesday at Apalachee High School in Barrow County, Georgia. Vance, in his speech: “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. 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.”
The AP’s initial story had this headline: “JD Vance calls school shootings ‘fact of life,’ demands better security,” drawing criticism that it was an unfair characterization.
After being highly criticized, the AP deleted its original post and replaced both that headline, as well as to X posts adding more context around Vance’s quote. The new headline: “JD Vance Wishes He Said School Shootings Are ‘Just A Fact Of Life’ And Made Better Doors.” The AP published a new post noting the revision: “This is an updated version of our earlier story which we have removed to provide more context about Vance’s remarks.”
The Harris-Walz campaign responded to say Vance and former President Donald Trump were criticizing the situation.
“Yesterday, Vice President Harris said ‘it doesn’t have to be this way’ in response to another senseless school shooting. Donald Trump and JD Vance think school shootings are a ‘fact of life’ and ‘we have to get over it,’ Harris-Walz 2024 spokesperson Ammar Moussa said in a statement.
Moussa continued, “Vice President Harris and Governor Walz know we can take action to keep our children safe and keep guns out of the hands of criminals. Donald Trump and JD Vance will always choose the NRA and gun lobby over our children. That is the choice in this election.”
