One of the manifold remarkable aspects of the 2024 US presidential race is how quickly the news cycle moves on. Just over two weeks ago, an assassination attempt was made on Donald Trump — an episode that was expected to dominate and “reshape” the race. And yet the sheer volume of election news since then has made this feel like a distant memory. Indeed, in the past week, the number of Americans looking up “Trump shooting” online has been eclipsed by the number putting another search term into Google: “JD Vance couch”.
這次搜尋與一則謠言有關,謠言稱川普的競選搭檔范錫在他的暢銷回憶錄《鄉下人的悲歌》(Hillbilly Elegy)中承認自己曾與一張沙發發生性關係——儘管這則謠言毫無根據,但被大家瘋狂玩梗。然而,雖然這不能怪罪於范錫,但一系列錯誤判斷、說錯話和讓人非常尷尬的表現卻是他自己的鍋。這些因素結合在一起,使得這位俄亥俄州參議員在社群媒體上被持續羣嘲。