Meantime:

Now, as you know, cheesesteak discourse jumped the shark many years ago. It’s banal and trite. “Oh man I can’t believe he went to the tourist spots!” Nobody cares. “Your favorite cheesesteak place sucks, mine is the best!” Nobody cares. Enough with this shit.

The real amusement is that people think the Inquirer is doing Vance dirty by leaving the original tweet up. Asking why Swiss cheese is an insult seems like genuine curiosity from an Ohio guy. But asking why they don’t have Swiss cheese makes it seem like he was considering Swiss cheese, which, of course, is a faux pas. What kind of doofus puts Swiss on a cheesesteak! Blah blah, etc, but of course you get replies like this, since most people on social aren’t going behind the paywall to see what’s actually written:

Now, if you actually look at the article, written by Jesse Bunch and Nick Vadala, it says this right at the very top:

Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly reported that Vance said he liked Swiss cheese. Instead, he asked why Swiss cheese was insulting while ordering a cheesesteak.

U.S. Sen. JD Vance wanted to know why Pat’s King of Steaks didn’t have Swiss cheese.

“I don’t like Swiss cheese either … Why do you guys hate Swiss cheese so much, what’s the story?” the Republican vice presidential nominee asked at the counter Monday afternoon.

Following a campaign stop in North Philadelphia, Vance headed down to Pat’s for a cheesesteak.

“He asked about why we don’t have Swiss cheese,” said Pat’s manager Sammy Garcia with a laugh. “We thought that was funny.”

Well I’m glad we cleared that up! It’s a rather straightforward story. Political candidates always stop by Pat’s and Geno’s when they come to town. You get the local staple and shake some hands and take some photos. John Kerry famously asked for Swiss back in 2003 and everyone had a field day with it. Mitt Romney asked if we’ve “ever been to Wawas,” which was hilarious, but the guy isn’t from here, so of course he’s gonna flub something. It would be like you and I going out to Utah and telling the Mormons a caffeine joke that doesn’t land.


But this is another comical microcosm of the journalism world we’re currently living in. Liberal newspaper makes an error, issues correction, and leaves the original tweet up. Angry conservatives ask why that tweet, which has been shared a bazillion times, hasn’t been deleted. Then less than 1% of social media commenters actually read the paywalled story to get a full understanding of what actually happened and what was actually said.

This is just how it goes in 2024. News, sports, entertainment reporting –  it’s all the same. You see how one gaffe can spiral into something significantly larger.

disclaimer: This is not a political post. Crossing Broad has no political affiliation and does not endorse political candidates. Plus, as the great Lemmy from Motorhead once said “They’re all going to steal your money and raise taxes, it doesn’t matter what they say. they’re always lying. It’s their profession.“