“The American media totally ignored this stuff until Donald Trump and I started talking about cat memes," Sen. Vance said. “If I have to create stories so that the American media actually pays attention to the suffering of the American people, then that’s what I’m going to do.”
This is what is known as “pious fraud.”
A lie requires intent. Without proof of intent, they will lose a libel suit.
In this case, since Vance has admitted he knew it was false, I think they have a defense, but they’re probably just afraid of getting sued at all.
So Vance can defame an entire community with no consequences but a newspaper talking about him admitting to lying can say he lied?
It gets tricky when you’re generalizing a community. He knows this, which is why it’s phrased a certain way. People of that community must have standing, that is, they must show that they were harmed, and that harm was a result of his statements.
If a bunch of them get together and say “hey when you said that, we lost money in our businesses, or we were turned down for a job/loan/home”, or have a community org willing to sue for that reason, then it could happen. But that takes time and effort that most people don’t want to spend, so they continue to get away with it.