JD Vance Can’t Even Bullshit Properly

During the period Controversial interview Appearing on CNN’s Dana Bash on Sunday, J.D. Vance seemed to acknowledge that he’s willing to “invent stories” to advance a political agenda. Bash accused Vance of spreading “baseless” and “unsupported” stories about Haitian immigrants eating dogs and cats in Springfield, Ohio. The CNN host correctly pointed out that these claims incite racist violence against Haitians. Vance responded, “If I have to invent stories to get the American media to actually pay attention to the suffering of the American people, then I’m willing to do that.”

That’s a surprising thing for a politician to say at any time, but especially when he’s been accused of spreading falsehoods. Vance’s critics were quick to point out I jumped to conclusions He claimed this was a confession, but Vance Claimed His words have been taken out of context, and what he was saying was that he and Trump intended to elevate a true narrative to make visible the suffering of working-class white Americans to a media culture that ignores reality.

However, the broader context of Vance’s comments does not lend credence to a generous interpretation of his words. His claims about Haitians are Clearly False— and Ohio lawmakers, especially Springfield Mayor Bob Lew Ohio Governor Mike DeWine(Republican) accused Vance and Donald Trump of spreading lies and putting innocent people at risk.

A detailed examination of the Vance-Bash exchange does not exonerate Trump’s running mate, but rather reveals his deliberate attempt to muddy the clear waters of truth. The crucial part of the Vance-Bash exchange is Something like this:

Vance: “Until Donald Trump and I started talking about cat memes, the American media completely ignored all of this. If I have to make a story so that the American media actually pays attention to the suffering of the American people, I will, Dana. Because you guys are completely leaving Kamala Harris alone. You only interviewed her once. You said you disagreed with me, but you didn’t disagree with the fact that she was the deciding vote on the Anti-Inflation Act, which is why so many Americans can’t afford food and housing.”

Bash: You said this was a story you made up…

Vance: “Dana, this is coming from first-hand testimony from constituents in my district. I say ‘making a narrative,’ and what I mean is making the American media focus on that narrative.”

First, it’s worth noting that Vance uses the phrase “cat meme” inaccurately and euphemistically. Refers to cute photos and videos of cats Anything that tugs at the heartstrings and evokes warm emotions spreads quickly on the internet, and myths about pets being kidnapped and eaten are the polar opposite of cat memes. It’s almost a blood libel.— deliberate slander against an underprivileged group, intended to incite hatred and violence. During his interview with Bash, Vance referred to Haitians in Ohio as illegal immigrants, which is also largely untrue. In any case, the meme is not a factual statement, but a stylized version of reality.

Vance further defended his claims by saying he had heard “first-hand” accounts from “constituents” of cats feasting. However, such first-hand accounts have not been confirmed; at best, there is hearsay and urban legend. Moreover, Haitians in Ohio who are currently victims of threats and physical violence are also Vance’s voters, even though Vance is apparently unwilling to consider Haitians as voters. It is unclear why the “first-hand” testimony of Haitian-Americans is less credible than the word of his accusers.

Many of Vance’s claims don’t stand up to scrutiny. Are there 20,000 Haitians who moved to Springfield, as Vance repeatedly claims? Trump, whose stories are even more extravagant than Vance’s, Now they say that number is too low The actual figure is 32,000. In fact, both Vance and Trump are playing around with the facts: Census data shows a much more conservative figure. total 5,000.

Given that Vance’s base claim is a lie, there is no reason to buy his attempt to straighten things out by claiming that when he said “create a story,” he meant “we’re creating the American media to focus on that.” While not an outright admission, the “create a story” sentence felt like a Freudian slip, an inadvertent admission of truth.

Freudian slips suggest a kind of remorse, an awareness of personal fault. To use the language of the medieval church that Vance, a Catholic convert, could understand, he wrote:Inwit’s Ienbyte.”

One way to understand Vance is that he is trying to be a master of bullshit, just like his new political hero, Donald Trump. A perfect symbol of the difference The late philosopher Harry G. Frankfurt came up with the concept of distinguishing between bullshit and lies: Liars know they are lying, but bullshit people have no awareness of the difference between truth and lies.