Vice President JD Vance attended the opening ceremonies of the 2026 Olympics in Milan, Italy, on Thursday, leading President Donald Trump's delegation alongside Second Lady Usha Vance. When the United States was introduced, and Vance appeared on the Jumbotron, the crowd responded with cheering, clapping, and chants of "USA" — none of which stopped several major media outlets from running with a very different narrative.
USA Today, the Associated Press, the New York Times, and NBC News all reported that Vance was not warmly welcomed at the opening ceremonies. The White House apparently disagreed enough to share NBC's own clip of the moment, which captured the crowd reaction in real time.
What the video shows and what the headlines said occupy two different realities.
It took almost no time for the media's version of events to become a political weapon. Governor Gavin Newsom's press office seized on the coverage, declaring that Trump and Vance have:
"RUINED America's reputation on the global stage."
This is from the governor of a state hemorrhaging residents and businesses at a pace that suggests plenty of Americans have opinions about ruined reputations closer to home. But Newsom's office didn't need the claim to be true — it just needed the headlines to exist. That's how the cycle works: outlets report a selective version of events, politicians launder the coverage into talking points, and the talking points become the "consensus" that justifies the original reporting.
It's a closed loop, and everyone inside it knows it.
Breitbart reports that Turning Point USA spokesman Andrew Kolvet shared video of the moment and about what was happening:
"Gavin Newsom, Kamala Harris and liberal outlets like NBC are falsely claiming the VP was booed during the Opening Ceremony at the Olympics."
Were there a handful of groans in a stadium full of international spectators? Possibly. An American vice president appearing at a global event is going to draw a mixed reaction from a crowd that includes citizens of dozens of countries — some of whom have strong opinions about U.S. trade policy at the moment. That's not a story. The story the media wanted to tell — that Vance was rejected, humiliated, booed off the screen — required ignoring the overwhelming cheers that dominated the actual audio.
They ignored them anyway.
Kolvet identified the deeper problem with precision:
"This is supposed to be a time of national pride and unity, but elected Democrats are using the Olympics to spread lies about our elected leaders and divide Americans. Pretty gross. Also, remember their lack of class when they inevitably run in '28."
That last line is worth sitting with. The Olympics are one of the few remaining cultural moments where Americans of all political stripes are supposed to rally behind the flag. The vice president of the United States represented the country at the opening ceremonies. A functioning political opposition might disagree with the administration on a hundred policy fronts and still manage not weaponize the Olympics against their own country's delegation.
Democrats couldn't clear that bar.
Instead, Newsom's operation — already transparently positioning for 2028 — saw an opportunity to kneecap the vice president on a global stage and took it. The media provided the ammunition by manufacturing a narrative that the video evidence contradicts. The politicians fired it. And if anyone pushes back, the response will be some version of "well, multiple outlets reported it," as if repetition equals verification.
This is not new. The media's relationship with Republican officials at international events has followed the same script for years: find the most negative possible interpretation of a public moment, amplify it, strip the context, and let Democratic operatives run with the framing. What's changed is the speed — and the brazenness. Four major outlets reported essentially the same misleading angle. The White House had to share the network's own footage to counter the network's own reporting.
Think about what that means. NBC aired the clip. NBC's audience could see the crowd reaction. And NBC still framed the story as Vance getting booed.
The press isn't failing to report accurately. Accurate reporting was available — they filmed it themselves. They chose a different story because the different story served a different purpose.
Kolvet's warning about remembering this moment when Democrats "inevitably run in '28" is strategic advice disguised as a jab. Every one of these episodes — the manufactured outrage, the willing distortion of a patriotic moment, the reflexive impulse to embarrass American leadership abroad — is a data point. Voters remember who cheered for their country and who rooted for humiliation because it was politically convenient.
Newsom's press office wanted a viral moment. They got one. It just might not age the way they planned.
The vice president went to Milan and represented his country. The crowd cheered. The media lied about it. Democrats used the lie. And the video exists for anyone willing to press play.