C-SPAN caption said 'cheers and applause' during Vance speech | Fact check
The claim: Image shows C-SPAN caption of ‘single person clapping’ during JD Vance speech
An Aug. 29 Threads post (direct link, archive link) shows a C-SPAN screenshot of Ohio Sen. JD Vance speaking at a rally with closed-captioning that says “single person clapping."
“C-SPAN has entered the chat,” reads the caption on the post. “Well played Sir Closed Caption. A grateful nation celbrates (sic) you.”
It was reposted more than 400 times in a week. Other versions of the claim spread widely on Threads and X, formerly Twitter.
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The caption is fabricated. No such line appears in C-SPAN's closed-captioning of the speech, which instead reads “cheers and applause.” Additionally, the font and color of the text in the image don’t match C-SPAN's style.
Actual C-SPAN captioning has white, all-caps letters
The screenshot was taken from C-SPAN's livestream of Vance’s speech at a rally alongside former President Donald Trump in Asheboro, North Carolina, on Aug. 21. It was taken at 10:10 a.m. Pacific Time, as indicated by a clock in the bottom right corner of the screen.
But there is no closed captioning that says ”single person clapping" during that minute. At one point, the closed-captioning reads "cheers and applause" after Vance says "We need Donald J. Trump back in the White House."
Additionally, the italicized yellow text in the Threads post doesn’t match that of C-SPAN, which used all-caps white lettering without italics in its closed-captioning.
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USA TODAY has debunked an array of claims about Vance, including false claims that he only received two military awards, that a video shows a teenage Vance preaching on Oprah Winfrey’s show and that he’s been divorced twice.
USA TODAY reached out to users who shared the post for comment but did not immediately receive a response.
PolitiFact and Check Your Fact also debunked the claim.
Our fact-check sources:
C-SPAN, Aug. 21, Senator JD Vance Campaigns in North Carolina
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Image of 'single person clapping' C-SPAN caption is fake | Fact check