A spokesman for JD Vance blasted the Associated Press for publishing a headline Thursday that implied the Republican vice presidential candidate had dismissed school shootings as a "fact of life."
In an exclusive comment to Fox News Digital, Vance spokesperson William Martin attacked 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.
At a rally in Phoenix, Vance remarked on the recent mass shooting that took place at Apalachee High School in Barrow County, Georgia on Wednesday.
"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."
While reporting the quote, however, AP appeared to insinuate Vance called school shootings a "fact of life" in a callous or dismissive way.
"JD Vance says school shootings are a ‘fact of life,’ calls for better security," the headline and X post originally read.
"Misleading headline: The full quote is, ‘I don’t like that this is a fact of life,'" a proposed X Community Note for the X post said.
AP later replaced both the headline and the X post, acknowledging the update.
The new headline reads, "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 posted.
Fox News Digital reached out to the AP for a comment.
The Harris-Walz campaign responded by attacking Vance and former President Trump.
"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."
