In February 2026, a rumor spread online that U.S. Vice President JD Vance accidentally left one of his children in Italy after visiting Milan for the Winter Olympics.
One video sharing the claim began as follows:
JD Vance has come under fire after leaving one of his kids in Italy and beginning to fly back to the U.S. before anyone realized that they were one child down. The vice president and his family have been in Milan, Italy, for the opening of the Winter Olympics, but he left in a hurry yesterday to get back for a Turning Point rally with Erika Kirk.
Some readers seemed to interpret the rumor as a factual recounting of real-life events, and Snopes received emails asking whether there was any truth to the rumor.
We found no evidence supporting the idea that Vance had accidentally left one of his children in Italy when flying home from the Winter Games. Rather, the rumor was shared by Bulls Nose News — a collection of social media pages that describe their output as being humorous or satirical in nature. The Bulls Nose News bio on TikTok, for example, says "Satire/Parody."
The fictional story spread following Vance and his family's visit to the 2026 Winter Olympics. According to The Associated Press, Vance did not return to the United States after visiting Italy — he instead continued east to Armenia and Azerbaijan.
Snopes has addressed other satirical claims about Vance, including the assertion that he said an independent Canada would have its own currency, anthem and flag. We've also covered other satirical rumors that originated from Bulls Nose News, like a claim that Charlie Kirk, the late Turning Point USA co-founder, had cut his wife, Erika Kirk, out of his will.
For background, here is why we alert readers to rumors created by sources that call their output humorous or satirical.