The office of U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance stated that a now-deleted post on his official X account, which described the 1915 events as “genocide,” had been “sent in error,” according to Bloomberg.
The deleted post featured a photo of the Vice President and his wife at the Tsitsernakaberd memorial and read that they “participated in a wreath-laying ceremony at the Armenian Genocide Memorial in remembrance of the victims of the 1915 Armenian Genocide.”
A representative from Vance’s office told Factor.am that the message was mistakenly published by a staffer who is not part of the official U.S. delegation.
Responding to questions at a press briefing, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said there has been “no change in policy at this time.”
Bloomberg recalled that in 2021, former President Joe Biden became the first U.S. leader to officially recognize the mass killings of Armenians as genocide, a move that angered Turkey as the successor to the Ottoman Empire. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has criticized countries recognizing the events as genocide.
When asked by reporters in Yerevan why he visited the memorial and whether he personally recognizes the Armenian Genocide, Vice President Vance said the visit was made at the request of Armenians but did not give a direct answer on the recognition issue.
“When we spoke with Armenians, they told us this is a very important place for them, and obviously I’m the first Vice President to ever visit Armenia. They asked us to visit this site. Clearly, something very horrific happened. It’s something that is just incredibly, incredibly important to them culturally. I felt, as a sign of respect for the victims and for the Armenian government — a key regional partner — and Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, that I wanted to visit and pay my respects,” Vance said.
According to his spokesperson, Vance’s X account is managed by staff and primarily used to post images and videos of his public activities. For all other matters, the spokesperson referred to Vance’s own comments.
