JD Vance says he has to “make up stories” to get media attention

Vance said the claims were based on “first-hand accounts from my constituents” and that the US media had ignored his attempts to discuss the “issues in Springfield for months”.

“The American press totally ignored this stuff until Donald Trump and I started talking about cat memes,” he said. “If I have to create stories so that the American media will really pay attention to the suffering of the American people, then that’s what I’m going to do.”

When Bash asked Vance to clarify his remark about having to “make up stories”, Vance balked.

“Dana, it comes from the firsthand accounts of my constituents,” Vance said. “I say we ‘create a story,’ meaning we create the American media by focusing on it.”

Vance then tried to link Harris to the influx of migrants into the city, echoing recent comments that “people who shouldn’t be in this country” are eating pets.

Attacking Harris and Biden on immigration issues has been a cornerstone of Trump’s campaign strategy. But this particular line of attack was met with skepticism.

Springfield’s mayor, city manager, police chief and Ohio Republican Gov. Mike DeWine all said there were no credible reports of immigrants taking or eating local pets.

“There’s a lot of garbage on the internet, and this is garbage that just wasn’t true, there’s no evidence of it,” DeWine told ABC News on Sunday.

“Let me tell you what we know: What we know is that the Haitians that are in Springfield are legal. They came to Springfield to work,” he added.

In a statement to Business Insider, a spokeswoman for Vance accused the media of “dishonestly twisting Senator Vance’s words” on the matter.

“Senator Vance will always do what the liberal media and Kamala Harris refuse to do, which is unapologetically listen to the concerns of his constituents,” she said.

After his difficult exchange with Bash, the senator explained about X. “I didn’t make up the voters who are complaining about this,” Vance wrote. “We helped focus the media on their complaints.”