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Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker stands with other officials during a security briefing at the U.S. Secret Service's Chicago Field Office, July 25, 2024, in Chicago. (AP)
Pritzker repeats a baseless claim about J.D. Vance and couches. That’s Pants on Fire!
If Your Time is short
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Republican vice presidential nominee Sen. J.D. Vance did not write in his bestselling memoir, "Hillbilly Elegy," about having a sexual encounter with a couch.
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The false claim that he did surfaced on social media in a satirical post.
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Illinois Democrat Gov. J.B. Pritzker amplified the claim on television but provided no more evidence to support the claim.
J.B. Pritzker, Illinois’ Democratic governor, attacked the Republican presidential ticket July 28 by repeating a salacious claim about Republican vice presidential nominee Sen. J.D. Vance of Ohio.
"I mean, on the other side, they’re just weird," Pritzker said during an interview on ABC News’ "This Week." "You know, (former President Donald Trump’s) running mate, as you probably have heard, is, you know, getting known for his obsession with couches."
Pritzker’s team supplied no evidence to support this statement. During a July 29 Zoom fundraiser billed as "White Dudes for Harris" to support Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign, Pritzker made another reference to couches, joking that he would invite everyone to a separate Zoom meeting "called ‘Couches Against Trump.’" He also dropped mention of Vance and "the talk about couches" during a July 29 press conference (56:34).
Pritzker’s claim referred to the false assertion that Vance wrote in his bestselling 2016 book, "Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis," that he had a sexual encounter with a couch.
NewsGuard, a company that monitors online misinformation, found the claim originated with a satirical X post that said Vance had written about pleasuring himself with a couch. Snopes also traced the claim’s origin to a July 15 X post that is no longer publicly viewable and called it false. In that now-archived post, the X user cited Pages 179-181 in Vance’s book.
But "Hillbilly Elegy" contains no such passage.
Featured Fact-check
PolitiFact searched a digital copy of the book’s 2016 edition and found 10 mentions of the word "couch" — none of them in the context to which this claim refers. We found no mentions of "sofa," "lounge," "settee" or "love seat."
We read through Pages 179 to 181 in a 2016 paperback edition of the book, and found that on these pages Vance described his college experience at Ohio State University, and didn’t mention a couch. Vance wrote about arriving at the university and going through orientation day. He also wrote about the city of Columbus and its proximity to Middletown, the town where he grew up. And he wrote on these pages about his college roommates, filling out financial aid forms, his desire to go to law school and taking a job at the Ohio Statehouse to help pay off his debt.
PolitiFact contacted Vance’s office and will update the story if it responds.
Pritzker’s claim that Vance has an "obsession with couches" is unfounded. We rate it Pants on Fire!
Our Sources
ABC News, 'This Week' Transcript 7-28-24: Gov. Wes Moore, Gov. JB Pritzker & Gov. Chris Sununu, July 28, 2024
ABC News YouTube video, Republicans ‘don't really want to solve’ border problems: Gov. JB Pritzker, July 28, 2024
The Associated Press, No, JD Vance did not have sex with a couch (archived copy), July 24, 2024
The Associated Press, ‘White Dudes for Harris’ is the latest in a series of Zoom gatherings backing the vice president, July 29, 2024
X post, July 29, 2024
Facebook stream by Governor JB Pritzker, July 29, 2024
X post by Max Tani, July 25, 2024
NewsGuard, The Left’s Myths About Project 2025, July 29, 2024
NewsGuard, JD Vance said in a book that he had pleasured himself with a glove and a couch, accessed July 29, 2024
J.D. Vance, Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis, 2016
Snopes, No, JD Vance Did Not Say He Had Sex with Couch Cushions, July 23, 2024
Snopes, No, 1st Edition of JD Vance's 'Hillbilly Elegy' Doesn't Mention Couch Cushion 'Eroticism', July 26, 2024
Archived X post, July 15, 2024
Business Insider, The author of the viral joke post about JD Vance having sex with a couch breaks his silence, July 30, 2024
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Pritzker repeats a baseless claim about J.D. Vance and couches. That’s Pants on Fire!
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