Fox host Jesse Watters demanded video of Donald Trump’s running mate, Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH), having sex with a couch on his show last night.

For those who have not been following the jokes and memes, there is no reason to believe that Vance ever had sex with a couch. But that hasn’t stopped the idea from spreading like wildfire on social media this past week, with people who know very well that there is no evidence that Vance had sex with a couch having a good time making jokes as if there is proof that he did.

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It started on July 15 when someone on X said they remembered Vance recounting a story of putting “an inside-out latex glove… between two couch cushions” in his book, Hillbilly Elegy, pages 179 to 181. Such a story does not appear on those pages or in that book.

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The joke might have been quickly forgotten if the Associated Press hadn’t published a fact check on the claim with the title “No, JD Vance did not have sex with a couch” and then deleted the article shortly afterwards because it “did not go through our standard editing process.” Now, links to that fact-check article go to a page with a “Page unavailable” message.

In what could only be a result of the “Streisand Effect” – when someone powerful tries to stifle a story but, in doing so, ends up making it go viral and get much more attention than it otherwise would have – X and other social media platforms lit up with jokes about Vance having sex with a couch last week.