The Associated Press committing one of the cardinal sins of journalism here by inserting themselves into the story. At least that's my take on it so far. Snopes, which fact-checks all sorts of internet memes and foolishness that some people sometimes believe as truth (although obvious jokes to other people), has no such qualms at keeping their fact-check up.

Humourless corporate media or something more nefarious, it doesn't really matter. JD Vance's alleged couch-fucking proclivities will live forever on the internet because that's what the internet is for. And if the Associated Press wanted more people to believe in the internet meme they'd delete their story, so good job Associated Press.

Source: Mediaite

The Associated Press removed its fact-check debunking the claim that former President Donald Trump’s running mate Senator JD Vance (R-OH) once had sex with a couch just 24-hours after it was published after the article “didn’t go through” the outlet’s “standard editing process.”

A spokesperson for the Associated Press told Mediaite:

The story, which did not go out on the wire to our customers, didn’t go through our standard editing process. We are looking into how that happened.

In an article titled “No, JD Vance did not have sex with a couch”, the Associated Press addressed the bizarre rumor that in Vance’s 2016 memoir, Hillbilly Elegy, he mentioned having sex with “an inside-out latex glove shoved between two couch cushions.” The debunk article was first published on Wednesday as the claim was spreading widely online.

The fact check revealed that a PDF search of the book contained 10 references to “couch” or “couches,” but none implied any sexual activity with the furniture. Furthermore, the AP confirmed that the words “sofa” and “glove” do not appear anywhere in the book.

The rumor, it turns out, was first posted on July 15, the same day Trump announced Vance as his vice presidential pick, by X user @rickrudescalves

The user later protected his account and, according to Snopes, an internet misinformation watchdog, indicated that the post was nonsense by sharing a meme that read: “You really think someone would do that, just go on the internet and tell lies?”
...
By Thursday morning, the article had been taken down from the outlet’s website entirely – the URL diverting to read “Page Unavailable.”