More than 70% of Washington Post's coverage of JD Vance is negative, just 1% is positive

The Washington Post's coverage of GOP vice-presidential nominee Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, is overwhelmingly negative, with almost none of its content resembling anything positive in recent weeks, Fox News Digital has found. 

From August 6 to September 30, a whopping 71% of The Post's content was negative, according to its online search results. Just 1.4% was positive, while roughly 28% was neutral. 

The search results included news reports, opinion pieces, political cartoons, videos and podcast links spanning from when his Democratic rival, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, was tapped by Vice President Kamala Harris as her running mate. Negative results include unflattering reports about the candidate. 

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Fox News Digital has found that more than 70% of The Washington Post's coverage of Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio has been negative. (Photo by Jeff Swensen/Getty Images)

Seventeen of the 49 negative results, or more than one-third, involved his comments about Springfield, Ohio. Three of them involved taking his quote about school shootings out of context when he said "I don’t like that this is a fact of life." Also among the negative results were five separate fact-checks against Vance, three of them resulting in the harshest rating of "Four Pinocchios."

Last week, The Post made headlines after it obtained private messages Vance sent in 2020 critical of then-President Trump.

Perhaps the most prolific in the anti-Vance bashing is columnist Philip Bump, who has written at least ten pieces primarily knocking the Republican hopeful during the 55-day period. 

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Fellow columnist Jennifer Rubin is setting expectations low for Vance ahead of Tuesday night's vice-presidential debate with Walz, in a piece headlined, "Vance had better buckle up: His debate might go as badly as Trump’s."

The only remotely positive article Fox News Digital was able to find was an op-ed with the headline "JD Vance isn’t wrong about the value of family caregivers." 

The Washington Post has published only one article remotely positive of Vance since Aug. 6.  (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

Meanwhile, Walz has gotten much rosier coverage since he joined the Democratic ticket. More than 50% of The Post's coverage was either positive or took a defensive stance of the Minnesota governor. Just 8% of the coverage was negative, and 41% of the results were neutral. 

Two of the eight negative articles among the search results were on how Walz was facing "new scrutiny" over his military service record as well as his handling of the 2020 George Floyd riots in Minneapolis. 

While Vance was the subject of five fact-checks, Walz was only the main subject of two, one of them rated "Four Pinocchios." Walz was also included among fact-checked speakers on Day 3 of the Democratic National Convention. 

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The only opinion piece overtly critical of the governor that Fox News Digital was able to find was one written Aug. 30 by columnist Kathleen Parker about his history of dishonesty. 

Despite largely keeping a low profile, particularly from the media, Walz was showered with glowing pieces by The Post right out of the gate.

"Tim Walz’s journey from high school football coach to VP candidate," one headline read on the day Harris announced her running mate. The next day, columnist Michele L. Norris laid out "6 reasons Tim Walz was the right choice." The day after that, The Post published the story "Harris and Walz seize on joyful message in contrast to darker Trump themes."

Fox News Digital found that more than 50% of The Washington Post's coverage of Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz has been positive while just 8% has been negative. (Detroit Free Press/Adam Vander Kooy / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images)

According to The Post, Walz was a man of political evolution in stories like "How Tim Walz went from NRA-endorsed to a gun-control advocate" and "How Black women shaped Tim Walz’s politics after the death of George Floyd."

Additionally, the "Democracy Dies in Darkness" paper made Walz into a fashion icon with stories like "For Tim Walz, ‘a dad in plaid,’ dressing down is leveling up" and "Viral Harris-Walz camo hats riff on red-state style, draw ire of NRA." He became the pinnacle of manliness in articles like "Masculinity’s check-engine light is on. Let Tim Walz have a look" and "Tim Walz as football coach: A rambunctious, rah-rah joker." 

More recently, The Post ran a headline on Sunday reading, "Democrats, with ‘Coach Walz’ as VP pick, embrace political power of football."

The Washington Post did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment. 

Joseph A. Wulfsohn is a media reporter for Fox News Digital. Story tips can be sent to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and on Twitter: @JosephWulfsohn.