JD Vance admits he is willing to ‘create stories’ to get media attention

In a stunning admission, the Republican vice-presidential candidate, JD Vance, said he was willing "to create stories" on the campaign trail while defending his spreading false, racist rumors of pets being abducted and eaten in a town in his home state of Ohio.

Vance's remarks drew a quick rebuke from the US transportation secretary, Pete Buttigieg, a Democrat who supports his party's White House nominee in November's election, Kamala Harris.

"Remarkable confession by JD Vance when he said he will 'create stories' (that is, lie) to redirect the media," Buttigieg wrote on X. "All this to change the subject away from abortion rights, manufacturing jobs, taxation of the rich, and the other things clearly at stake in this election."

Vance further insulted people in Springfield who are Haitian as "illegal", though the vast majority of them are in the US legally through a temporary protected status (TPS) that has been allocated to them due to the violence and unrest in their home country in the Caribbean. The status must be renewed after 18 months.

The rumors proliferating out of Springfield have led to bomb threats aimed at local hospitals and government offices. Vance on Sunday told Bash it was "disgusting" for the media to suggest any of his remarks had led to those threats. He also used the same term to refer to the people issuing those threats, though - in a separate appearance on Sunday on NBC's Meet the Press - he made it a point to blame the media for accurately reporting on them, saying it was "amplifying the worst people in the world".

Vance ultimately defended his endorsement of the lies about Springfield as calling attention to the immigration policies at the White House while Harris has served as vice-president to Joe Biden.

"I'm not mad at Haitian migrants for wanting to have a better life," Vance said. "We're angry at Kamala Harris for letting this happen."