The Associated Press faced significant criticism on Thursday after it inaccurately quoted vice presidential candidate JD Vance regarding school shootings. During a rally in Phoenix, JD Vance expressed his discontent with the notion that school shootings have become a “fact of life” and advocated for improved security measures.

“If these psychos are going to go after our kids we’ve got to be prepared for it,” Vance said. “We don’t have to like the reality that we live in, but it is the reality we live in. We’ve got to deal with it.”

In response to the journalist’s inquiry regarding measures the country could take to prevent shootings, Vance advocated for enhanced security measures.

“I don’t like that this is a fact of life,” Vance said. “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 Associated Press initially conveyed only that Vance referred to shootings as a “fact of life,” rather than providing an accurate account of his comments.

After all the backlash, the AP deleted the initial post, replacing it with an updated version and saying, “JD Vance says he laments that school shootings are a ‘fact of life’ and calls for better security.”

“This post replaces an earlier post that was deleted to add context to the partial quote from Vance,” the AP later said.


RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR