PBS Reporter Backtracks After Giving Disparaging False Report About Trump On-Air: 'This Was a Mistake'
Democrats and the establishment media regularly tell the opposite of the truth.
Then, on rare occasions when they correct themselves and apologize, not even their explanations make sense.
Wednesday on the social media platform X, Judy Woodruff of the Public Broadcasting Service offered an unconvincing explanation for an unbelievable and borderline libelous on-air statement about former President Donald Trump.
Woodruff made the comment Monday during the taxpayer-funded network’s coverage of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago.
In short, Woodruff cited establishment media reports that Trump has exerted pressure on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Trump’s purpose, Woodruff alleged, was to delay a cease-fire deal in the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza because a deal of that nature would likely improve political prospects for Vice President and 2024 Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris.
“The reporting is that former President Trump is on the phone with the prime minister of Israel, urging him not to cut a deal right now, because that — it’s believed that would help the Harris campaign,” Woodruff said in a clip.
Am I the only one who caught this last night at the #DNC? pic.twitter.com/eiSghREKyw
— David Carroll 🦣 (@profcarroll) August 20, 2024
Then, on Wednesday, Woodruff tweeted that she “hadn’t seen later reporting that both sides denied” the alleged Trump-Netanyahu collusion.
For that, the PBS journalist admitted her “mistake” and apologized.
“I want to clarify my remarks on the PBS News special on Monday night about the ongoing cease fire talks in the Middle East,” she posted Wednesday.
“As I said, this was not based on my original reporting; I was referring to reports I had read, in Axios and Reuters, about former President Trump having spoken to the Israeli Prime Minister. In the live TV moment, I repeated the story because I hadn’t seen later reporting that both sides denied it.
“This was a mistake and I apologize for it.”
I want to clarify my remarks on the PBS News special on Monday night about the ongoing cease fire talks in the Middle East. As I said, this was not based on my original reporting; I was referring to reports I had read, in Axios and Reuters, about former President Trump having…
— Judy Woodruff (@JudyWoodruff) August 21, 2024
Like the original accusation, however, the apology smelled.
For one thing, Woodruff claimed that she had based her comment on “reports I had read, in Axios and Reuters.”
But a social media user named “Mel,” who has more than 57,000 followers and goes by the name “@Villagecrazylady” on X, pointed out three obvious problems with Woodruff’s “apology.”
“1. Neither Reuters nor Axios ever alleged the purpose of the phone call. You made that up 100% on your own.
“2. Both news agencies updated their stories within 24 hours of publishing to acknowledge that both sides denied it ever occurring. You made those remarks 4 DAYS after this clarification.
“3. You are clearly trying to pass the blame for the ongoing genocide to someone else but it’ll never work. Biden and Harris own ALL of it,” Mel concluded.
1. Neither Reuters nor Axios ever alleged the purpose of the phone call. You made that up 100% on your own.
2. Both news agencies updated their stories within 24 hours of publishing to acknowledge that both sides denied it ever occurring.
You made those remarks 4 DAYS after… pic.twitter.com/C3ywNVxONC
— Mel (@Villgecrazylady) August 21, 2024
In other words, neither Reuters nor Axios actually reported what Woodruff described, i.e. the alleged phone call’s nefarious purpose.
Likewise, Netanyahu’s office denied the allegation, which the two outlets’ updated reports reflected.
Furthermore, the establishment media’s lengthy history of peddling hoaxes about Trump raises suspicions about this latest one.
“The Israel Hoax just dropped,” independent journalist Kyle Becker commented in a Wednesday post on X.
The Israel Hoax just dropped.
Presidential candidate Donald Trump is being investigated for the alleged “massive crime” of making an unsanctioned phone call to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
As reported by Axios, the former president spoke on the phone with… pic.twitter.com/ZGyaImur8G
— Kyle Becker (@kylenabecker) August 21, 2024
Tammy Bruce of Fox News also noted the misrepresentation in Woodruff’s statement.
“In her supposed apology Woodruff deflects saying she was referring to reports from Axios and Reuters,” Bruce wrote in a post on X. “Both referred only to the (now proven false) allegation that Trump talked to Netanyahu about Gaza, but neither included the obscene lie that Trump suggested abandoning a hostage deal.
“Woodruff seems to have made that up all by herself,” Bruce concluded.
In her supposed apology Woodruff deflects saying she was referring to reports from Axios and Reuters. Both referred only to the (now proven false) allegation that Trump talked to Netanyahu about Gaza, but neither included the obscene lie that Trump suggested abandoning a hostage… https://t.co/9KWoWcdwEX
— Tammy Bruce (@HeyTammyBruce) August 21, 2024
Above all, however, the fact that anyone would believe such a report about Trump speaks to how dangerous liberals’ derangement has become. They want to read and hear the worst about him. And that explains why so many of them have said and done such evil things.
Never mind Trump’s spectacular record of fairness to Israel during his presidency. Never mind his good relationship with Mahmoud Abbas, President of the Palestinian National Authority. And never mind his occasional ambivalence toward Netanyahu, or the former president’s obvious eagerness to strike a deal that will end the bloodshed in the Middle East.
Even if we could believe that Netanyahu prefers Trump to a Democrat, or that the Israeli prime minister would tie his own nation’s fate to the outcome of a U.S. election, Trump’s own history and character together affirm the lunacy of suggesting that he would play politics with Israeli and Palestinian lives.
But PBS’s liberal viewers have an appetite for such disgusting fare, so Woodruff fed it to them.
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