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The Associated Press removed its July 2024 fact-check about a false claim that JD Vance’s memoir described sex with a couch. AP said the story had not gone through its standard editing process and that it was looking into how that happened. Independent fact-checkers who checked the memoir reported that the cited passage was not there.
What AP said about removing the article
On July 24, 2024, AP published a fact-check titled “No, JD Vance did not have sex with a couch.” The next day, the wire service removed it. An AP spokesperson told Mediaite: “The story, which did not go out on the wire to our customers, didn’t go through our standard editing process. We are looking into how that happened.” Salon also reported the statement.
That is the explanation AP gave publicly. The cited coverage does not establish a more specific internal reason for the removal, so it would be inaccurate to treat any further explanation as confirmed.
What fact-checkers found in Hillbilly Elegy
The rumor began with a July 15, 2024 post on X claiming Vance’s memoir described an encounter involving a latex glove and couch cushions, and citing pages 179–181. The account’s original post was later follower-only, according to Lead Stories. PolitiFact traced the claim to a satirical post; the specific page numbers and book title made it look like a factual allegation that could be checked.
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Two fact-checkers described separate reviews of the memoir:
- Lead Stories said it searched a digital copy of the 2016 memoir and checked the cited pages. Its search found eight references to “couch,” none in the alleged context.
- PolitiFact said its search of a digital copy of the 2016 edition found 10 mentions of “couch,” none related to the claim. It also checked pages 179–181 in a paperback and reported that they described Vance’s college experience without mentioning a couch.
Those counts reflect the different searches each publisher described; they are not a combined count. The relevant finding is narrower and text-based: the fact-checkers reported that the cited passage does not appear in the memoir. That does not establish every private fact about Vance’s life.
Readers can consult Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis, the 2016 book named in the claim, if they want to check the source text themselves. Buying a copy is optional; the independent fact-checks describe the editions and passages they reviewed.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.How the removal affected the rumor’s circulation
The Washington Post reported that the claim spread to millions and that both AP’s fact-check and its removal drew further attention to it. Its analysis also noted that people sometimes circulate political falsehoods because they find them funny or useful for embarrassing an opponent, not necessarily because they believe them. That is context about how such claims can travel, not evidence of any particular person’s motive.
In a later development, PolitiFact reported that Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker repeated a couch-related insinuation on television without evidence and rated the claim “Pants on Fire!” That later political amplification was separate from the event that led AP to remove its article.
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