"Public figures occasionally deliver what’s known as a “non-denial denial,” in which they try to throw cold water on a claim without actually saying it’s false, but yesterday on Will Cain’s Fox News show, the vice president delivered something that might be entirely new: a confirmation-denial. Vance called The Atlantic’s reporting false and then pivoted instantly to verifying that it was true.

“Most of these reports I ignore. This one I actually read because it ascribed views to me and things that I had allegedly said that I am just 100 percent certain that I have never said,” Vance stated. “Now to answer your question, Will, of course I am concerned about our readiness, because that is my job to be concerned.” He added: “It’s of course my job to ask these questions.”

(Vance has a hot-and-cold relationship with The Atlantic. On Fox News he said, “Don’t believe everything you read, especially in papers like The Atlantic.” But he knows full well that this is a magazine, not a newspaper. After all, he pitched an article here in July 2016. In the essay, he portrayed himself as a thinker who could stand up to Trump’s demagoguery—so perhaps he has a point about not believing everything you read in The Atlantic.) —The Atlantic (Magazine)