The Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) called out Vice President JD Vance’s deletion of his X (Twitter) post acknowledging the Armenian Genocide during his visit to Armenia’s Genocide Memorial, calling it a “disgraceful surrender to Turkish pressure” that raises serious concerns among Armenian American voters heading into the 2026 midterm elections and 2028 presidential race.

After Vice President Vance visited the Armenian Genocide Memorial on Tuesday, February 10th, the @VP X (formerly Twitter) account posted: “Today, Vice President Vance and Second Lady Usha Vance attended a wreath laying ceremony at the Armenian Genocide memorial to honor the victims of the 1915 Armenian genocide.” That tweet was soon deleted and replaced with a retweet of VP Press Secretary Taylor Van Kirk’s post that stripped all reference to the Armenian Genocide, instead stating, euphemistically: “.@VP and @SLOTUS lay flowers at the eternal flame and sign the guest book on the final day of their visit to Armenia.”

“Turkey never tires of humiliating America,” stated ANCA Executive Director Aram Hamparian. “This time, forcing a sitting U.S. Vice President to delete his post about the Armenian Genocide. While it’s no surprise to see Turkey still strong-arming global leaders to enforce its Armenian Genocide gag-rule, it is deeply troubling to witness Vice President Vance – a man who loudly proclaims solidarity with Christian victims of persecution – display such weakness in the face of this foreign pressure.”

The White House @RapidResponse47 X (formerly Twitter) account also deleted a post featuring a reporter’s question to Vice President Vance in Yerevan about the importance of his visit to the Armenian Genocide Memorial. Vice President Vance offered an evasive response: “@VP: Well, we’re going to visit some important sites to Azerbaijan tomorrow… I’m the first Vice President to ever visit Armenia. They asked us to visit the site… I wanted to go and pay my respects.” Video of the exchange is available here.

ANCA Policy Director Alex Galitsky called the second post deletion “an insult to the memory of the 1.5 million victims of the Armenian Genocide – and an affront to a community that fought tirelessly for decades to ensure recognition of that crime.”

White House Responds to Deletion of Armenian Genocide Reference

When Bloomberg News’ Kate Sullivan, travelling as part of the White House press pool, asked about the deletion of the Vice President’s Armenian Genocide post, a VP official stated the original tweet was “posted in error by staff who are not part of the delegation.” A VP spokesperson added: “This is an account managed by staff that primarily exists to share photos and videos of the Vice President’s activities. For the Vice President’s views on the substance of the question, I refer you to the comments he made earlier on the tarmac in response to the pool’s question.”

At today’s White House press briefing, AFP reporter Danny Kemp asked White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt about the deleted tweet. Leavitt stated “no change in policy at this time,” referencing the White House’s April 24, 2025, Armenian Remembrance Day statement, where President Trump, under Turkish pressure, retreated from U.S. affirmation of the Armenian Genocide. The ANCA called that statement “a shameful abrogation of our nation’s responsibility to prevent Azerbaijan and Turkey’s ongoing genocidal aggression against Christian Armenians.”

President Trump’s non-recognition stands in opposition to President Joe Biden’s recognition of the Armenian Genocide in April 2021 and throughout his Administration. The United States first recognized the Armenian Genocide in 1951 through a submission to the International Court of Justice. In 1981, President Ronald Reagan cited the Genocide in a Holocaust Remembrance statement. In 2019, both the U.S. House (H.Res.220) and Senate (S.Res.150) passed measures recognizing the Armenian Genocide with overwhelming bipartisan support. All 50 U.S. states have formally recognized the Armenian Genocide through resolutions or proclamations.

The deletion of the Armenian Genocide post from Vice President Vance’s X account was covered worldwide, with the ANCA’s concerns spotlighted in CNN, Reuters, The Wall Street Journal, Yahoo News, The Hill, MediaIte, and Antiwar.com, among others.

Congressional Leaders Condemn Deletion

Congressional leaders swiftly condemned Vice President Vance’s deletion of his Armenian Genocide acknowledgment.

“1.5 million Armenians were killed in the Armenian Genocide. That truth cannot be erased,” stated Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA). “I’ve fought to ensure the U.S. recognizes these crimes as genocide, and I will keep standing with the Armenian community against the Trump administration’s efforts to rewrite history.”

“The Vice President’s deletion of this post only deepens the pain of the Armenian community which saw this White House retreat on Armenian Genocide recognition,” stated Sen. Adam Schiff (D-CA). “Another capitulation to Turkey, in such a sloppy manner as to invite further scrutiny of this administration’s retreat on human rights and the truth.”

“More than 1.5 million Armenians were murdered during the Armenian Genocide,” stated Sen. Jackie Rosen (D-NV). “The Trump Administration’s refusal to acknowledge this dark chapter in history for what it was is a denial of the facts.”

“When I visited Armenia as Speaker in 2022, our Congressional delegation stood at Tsitsernakaberd and spoke clearly and unapologetically about the Armenian Genocide – because truth matters,” stated Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi (D-CA). “That truth was affirmed when the House overwhelmingly passed a bipartisan resolution recognizing the Armenian Genocide in 2019, and when President Biden showed moral leadership by formally acknowledging it in 2021 – a position shamefully reversed by the Trump Administration. It’s deeply disappointing, though not surprising, to see the Vice President delete a post acknowledging that truth. Erasing history dishonors the victims and weakens our commitment to human rights everywhere.”

“Over a million people were murdered and starved to death in the Armenian Genocide, and when the highest-level visit yet from an American official to the eternal flame honoring its victims took place, the Trump Administration once again couldn’t bring themselves to call this crime by its proper name,” stated Congressional Armenian Caucus Co-Chair Frank Pallone (D-NJ).

“It’s disturbing to see @VP Vance delete his post acknowledging the 1915 Armenian Genocide,” said fellow Congressional Armenian Caucus Co-Chair Brad Sherman (D-CA). “To renege on the U.S.’s yearslong rightful recognition of the genocide now is shameful and undermines the Trump Administration’s own attempts to deescalate tensions in the region.”

“The Armenian Genocide is a fact. I helped lead a bipartisan coalition calling for U.S. recognition, which President Biden finally did in 2021,” stated Rep. Jim McGovern (D-MA). “By deleting this post, @VP and @POTUS show they care more about their authoritarian buddies than the truth. Disgusting and pathetic.”

“Absolutely cowardly behavior from @VP @JDVance,” stated Rep. Laura Friedman (D-CA). “You don’t get to lay a wreath at the Armenian Genocide memorial and then delete your post mentioning the genocide in order to appease Erdoğan. Your actions are an insult to the memories of the victims.”

“The Armenian Genocide is a historical fact,” stated Rep. Judy Chu (D-CA). “Vice President Vance can delete his post, but he can’t erase history. His decision to ignore the facts is beyond disrespectful to the Armenian community and the millions killed in the Armenian Genocide.”

Five Signals of Failed Leadership During Armenia Visit

The ANCA identified five dangerous signals sent by Vice President Vance’s visit to Armenia – all dramatically compounded by his deletion of the Armenian Genocide post:

1) No meeting with the families of Armenian hostages and POWs still held by Azerbaijan, normalizing Aliyev’s brazen use of hostage diplomacy.

2) No meeting with Armenian refugees from Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) or any public calls for their safe and dignified return, normalizing Azerbaijani President Aliyev’s genocidal ethnic cleansing of the region.

3) No dialogue with the spiritual leadership of the Armenian Apostolic Church or visits with jailed Armenian Apostolic Archbishops and other clergy, normalizing the Armenian government’s recent crackdown on religious freedom in Armenia.

4) No meeting with opposition Armenian political parties or representatives, instead endorsing the Prime Minister’s electoral bid, normalizing foreign intervention in Armenia’s democratic process.

5) No recognition of the Armenian Genocide, deleting the post about visiting the Genocide Memorial, normalizing President Trump’s retreat from U.S. recognition of that crime.

Each of these points raise serious concerns among Armenian American voters about Vice President Vance heading into the 2026 midterms and 2028 presidential election.

ANCA’s Pre-Visit Campaign and Expectations for Baku Leg

On the eve of Vice President Vance’s visit, the ANCA launched a nationwide campaign – anca.org/vance – calling on him to address urgent humanitarian issues during his travels to Armenia and Azerbaijan. The organization urged Vance to meet with Armenian hostages illegally held in Baku and demand their immediate release, support the right of ethnically cleansed Armenian refugees to return to their indigenous Artsakh homeland, call on Azerbaijan to withdraw its military forces from sovereign Armenian territory, and press Baku to stop destroying millennia-old Armenian Christian heritage sites.

In Azerbaijan, the Vice President has the opportunity to press the Aliyev administration on the immediate release of the 19 Armenian hostages still detained and tortured in Baku – including former Artsakh leaders recently sentenced to life imprisonment in sham trials – the fundamental right of return for the 150,000 Armenians forcibly displaced from Artsakh, and the complete withdrawal of Azerbaijani troops from sovereign Armenian land.