Did JD Vance Rent A Dog For Election Campaign? Debunking Viral Claims

A video of Senator JD Vance of Ohio telling Tucker Carlson during an interview that his campaign team rented a dog for him is going viral on social media. However, Times Now can confirm that JD Vance's comments have been taken out of context, and the dog with which he appears in the interview is his own pet dog, Atlas. The Republican Vice Presidential candidate has drawn a lot of flak for his 'childless cat lady' comment and for alleging falsely that Haitians in Springfield, Ohio are eating pets. The clip quickly went viral in the context of the comments, with people readily believing that Vance's campaign was attempting to salvage his image by projecting himself as an animal lover. In the 11-second clip, Vance can be heard telling Carlson: "He’s actually a rent-a-dog that was given to me by the campaign to make me seem like I’m a dog fan." However, the Senator was discussing sarcastically the allegations of his opponents amid the controversies surrounding him and pet animals.Here's the viral video:

🚨 #BREAKINGNEWS Two days ago JD Vance admitted the campaign rented a dog to make him appear that he loves dogs. Tucker Carlson even calls it weird. 🚨 pic.twitter.com/ZEqvMgwUjx

— Ford News (@FordJohnathan5) September 21, 2024

His full statement goes like this: "So, this is Atlas, which I found out on the internet a few weeks ago that he's actually a rent-a-dog that was given to me by the campaign to make me seem like I'm a dog fan.""It's actually hysterical to hear these lefties be like, ‘Oh, that dog, that's totally not his dog,’" he added. Meanwhile, a spokesperson of Vance confirmed to PolitiFact that the 40-year-old and his family adopted Atlas as an 8-week-old puppy back in January 2024. Vance has been taking Atlas around on the campaign trail, and he also came up in the studio for the Tucker Carlson interview.