Vice President Vance’s team posted and later deleted a message on social media about Republicans visiting a monument commemorating Armenians killed by the Ottoman Empire in the early 20th century.
The problem is that the post used the term “Armenian Genocide,” a name that the U.S. government has never historically used to describe what happened, with the notable exception of the Biden administration. The White House blamed staff errors.
Here are some questions and answers about what that means, what Vance himself did and didn’t say, and why it matters.
What did Vance visit in Armenia?
Vance visited the Armenian Genocide Memorial, Armenia’s official national monument commemorating citizens who died under the brutal control of the Ottoman Empire during World War I.
The initial post on Vance’s official X account said he was visiting the monument “to honor the victims of the Armenian Genocide.” It was replaced by a second post that showed what he wrote in the guestbook and a clip of the vice president and Usha Vance laying flowers at the memorial.
Vance, the first U.S. vice president to visit Armenia as part of the Trump administration’s U.S.-brokered deal to end the decades-long conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan, visited Armenia late Tuesday.
Why is word choice important?
“Genocide” is a fraught and legally unique term used with caution by governments, international agencies and media organizations.
Genocide was defined by the United Nations in 1948 as “meaning certain acts enumerated in Article 2 intended to destroy in whole or in part a national, ethnic, racial or religious group,” according to a longstanding understanding of the U.S. State Department.
There is no doubt that thousands of Armenian citizens, most of them Christians, died under the command of the Council of Unity and Progress, which led the Muslim government in Constantinople (now known as Istanbul).
The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum estimates that “at least 664,000, and possibly as many as 1.2 million” people died.
But the U.S. government has historically refused to recognize what happened as a “genocide” for fear of alienating Turkey, an important U.S. ally in the region. In 2021, then-President Joe Biden formally recognized the systematic killing and deportation of hundreds of thousands of Armenians by Ottoman forces as part of a “genocide.”
Türkiye reacted angrily at the time. The foreign minister said his country “will not learn the lessons of our history from anyone”.
People of Armenian descent remember the victims with memorials and hold annual commemorations around the world, including in the United States
What did Vance himself say?
On Tuesday, Vance was asked specifically about his visit to the memorial and whether he “acknowledged” the genocide.
He avoided using the word and said he was there at the invitation of host Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and his government to “pay respects.”
“They said this is a very important site for us, and obviously I’m the first (U.S.) vice president to visit Armenia,” Vance said. “They asked us to visit the site. Obviously it was a very horrific thing that happened over a hundred years ago, but it was very, very important to their culture.”
Vance added that it was a “show of respect for the victims and respect for the government of Armenia, which has been a very important partner of ours in the region.”
What did the White House say?
The White House attributed the initial post to a staffer. It’s the second time in less than a week that the West Wing has blamed an unnamed aide for a controversy over a social media post. On Friday, Trump shared a racist video on his “Truth Society” account that depicted former President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama as jungle primates.
The White House initially defended the post but removed it after a flurry of criticism.
What happens next?
It is unclear whether there will be any diplomatic consequences. Vance, for his part, seemed determined to focus on the original mission of his trip.
“I think the president made a great peace deal. I think the administration is really sticking to it,” Vance said.
Still, there remains a political question of whether Armenian Americans will respond, a rhetoric that is yet another reminder of the United States’ ongoing reluctance to use the word “genocide” to describe the memory of Armenians.
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This story has been updated to remove a reference to Istanbul being the capital of Türkiye. Ankara is the capital. ___ White House correspondent Michelle Price contributed reporting from Baku, Azerbaijan.
