Why JD Vance ‘created’ the pet-eating immigrants

Last week, Republican vice-presidential candidate JD Vance appeared on CNN’s State of the Union where he was interviewed by Dana Bash. During what could best be described as a testy exchange, Vance said he had ‘created’ the story of Haitian immigrants eating pets. Explaining that statement, he said he ‘created’ the story with memes and tweets, not that he created the substance of the story.

Still, no one listened. In America’s media ecosystem, which has little regard for nuance and context, the proverbial die was already cast. Left-leaning media were quick to point to his statement as proof of the story being completely fabricated. Right-leaning media viewed their reactions as another attempt to distort the words of a high-profile conservative. Both views are half-truths. But what interests me about the whole kerfuffle isn’t the truth of the story, but what the reactions to Vance’s statement say about our media, our elected leaders and us as voters.