C-SPAN didn’t air ‘single person clapping’ caption during JD Vance’s speech

Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance addressed supporters Aug. 21 at a campaign rally in Asheboro, North Carolina. The Ohio senator’s remarks were widely covered and shared in the media, including on C-SPAN, which aired Vance’s speech. 

A screenshot of that broadcast is circulating on social media with a purported subtitle knocking Vance: "(single person clapping)."

"LMAO @cspan caption person for the win," said one Aug. 28 X post sharing the image. 

"Even closed captioning doesn’t like JV Vance," another said. 

"Is there a Pulitzer for subtitles?" a third said. 

But C-SPAN aired no such caption, Robin Newton, a spokesperson for the network said. 

Featured Fact-check

Threads posts

stated on October 20, 2024 in a Threads post

Former President Donald Trump posted on Truth Social and addressed claims of his “incontinence,” saying, “I don’t poop myself.”

"We checked out captioning log," Newton said. "That image is fake. It never appeared on C-SPAN." 

A time stamp is visible in the image — 10:10 am PT — and we found the precise moment that appears in the screenshot, at about the 16:25 mark of this video on C-SPAN’s website. Vance was connecting his opponent, Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Walz, the Minnesota governor, to China and saying voters need to elect former President Donald Trump back into office. A few seconds later, around the 16:28 mark, a caption appears that says, "(cheers and applause)."

We rate claims that C-SPAN aired the caption "single person clapping" False.