Did JD Vance Really Say That?

People are saying he did.

Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

When it comes to creating jobs, I have a much better record than Donald Trump, aka Metamucilini.

Since he took office in January, over 290,000 Federal workers have been laid off. I, on the other hand, have provided steady employment for the fact checkers at Snopes.com.

Snopes is a website dedicated to debunking Internet misinformation, hoaxes, and in my case, satirical news stories that people have believed to be true. Since the line between satire and reality has become as invisible as Melania at the White House, I have kept the fact checkers at Snopes very, very busy.

How busy, exactly? According to the Snopes archives, they have had to explain that over forty of my stories weren’t true. And they had to do it again last week, after I posted an item that went viral, appearing in more than 7 million Facebook feeds:

WASHINGTON—JD Vance stirred controversy on Monday by suggesting that Labor Day be a celebration of “women who go through labor.”

“The woke mob has distorted the true meaning of Labor Day,” Vance told Fox News. “Honoring workers might please people who work for a living, but it doesn’t delight me and Donald Trump.”

Vance urged that Labor Day be “a time to pay tribute to the one thing that gives women’s lives meaning: reproducing.”

“Only women who have given birth should be allowed at Labor Day picnics,” he declared. “No baby, no hot dog.”

So, how did Snopes set the record straight?

“A Google search revealed no reports from reputable news organizations about the alleged statement,” Snopes indicated. “Given the prominence of a U.S. vice president, major media outlets would have widely reported this statement. Rather, the story was created by Andy Borowitz, a comedian and satirist known for creating the satirical publication The Borowitz Report, which he's been publishing online since 2001.”

I must confess: I’m hurt. Missing from this response was even a shred of gratitude for all the work I’ve given Snopes over the years. Snopes, if you’re listening, let me quote a great American: “Have you said thank you once?”