J.D. Vance Makes Reference to Sleeping on Couch After Untrue Sex Rumors Swirl

J.D. Vance fired off a lighthearted joke about him and a couch -- and considering all the (unfounded) rumors about him and furniture ... you couldn't write a better script.

The vice presidential candidate spoke in Nevada Tuesday at a rally ... and during his remarks, he mentioned his wife of a decade, Usha -- implying she's not big on public speaking.

In fact, Vance says, if he calls her up to the stage -- she'll probably make him sleep on the couch ... an off-the-cuff comment that drew a few chuckles from the crowd, but which had the internet cracking up en masse.

In a normal election year, this comment would go totally unnoticed -- but, VP candidates aren't usually accused of getting intimate with living room furniture ... and J.D., unfortunately, has as a result of some troll who floated this fake theory, which has gone viral.

ICYMI ... a bogus excerpt from Vance's autobiography "Hillbilly Elegy" made the rounds after Donald Trump picked him as his running mate -- with the excerpt going on about how J.D. turned a latex glove inside out, put it in between couch cushions and went to town.

Once again, it is NOT a real section in 'HB Elegy' ... but, the internet ran with it anyway and the memes are everywhere -- much to the chagrin of therapist Dr. Laura Berman who says this hurts members of the naughty furniture community.

Of course, people could be reading too much into Vance's quip ... 'cause jokes about women making men sleep on the couch have been around since the dawn of time (or the dawn of sofas) -- so, it's unclear if J.D. was even making a reference to his now-viral connection.