White House deletes JD Vance's social media post referring to Armenian genocide

"The White House has deleted a social media post in which the vice-president, JD Vance, referred to the Armenian genocide, prompting anger from members of the Armenian diaspora as well as opposition politicians across the US. The post was made during Vance's two-day trip to Armenia to mark a visit by Vance and his wife, Usha Vance, to a memorial for the up to 1.5 million Armenians killed by Ottoman troops more than a century ago."

"An aide to Vance later told reporters that the message had been posted in error on social media by staff who were not travelling with Vance. It was the second time in the past week that the administration cited staff error to explain its social media content; last week, after Donald Trump sought to dismiss the uproar over a racist video depicting Barack and Michelle Obama as apes, the US president said it had been erroneously posted by a staffer."

"On Tuesday Vance the first sitting US vice-president or president to visit the country avoided any mention of the word genocide, instead describing the atrocities as a very terrible thing that happened a little over 100 years ago in comments to reporters. Vance said the visit had been carried out at the behest of the Armenian government, adding that it was a sign of respect for the victims and the local government."

The White House deleted a social media post in which Vice-President JD Vance referred to the Armenian genocide, prompting anger from the Armenian diaspora and opposition politicians. The post coincided with Vance's two-day trip to Armenia and a visit with his wife to a memorial for up to 1.5 million Armenians killed by Ottoman troops more than a century ago. An aide said the message was posted in error by staff not travelling with Vance. The administration cited staff error for another controversial post the previous week. Vance avoided the word genocide in public comments, described the events as a very terrible thing, and said the visit was a sign of respect. The US had previously refrained from using the term to avoid alienating Turkey, which disputes the characterization; President Joe Biden formally recognised the killings as genocide in 2021.

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