In today’s broadcast of MSNBC Live, host Thomas Robert interviewed Democratic National Committee (DNC) chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz about the presidential campaign, where she naturally got in all her anti-Romney, pro-Obama talking points. At the close of the interview, Roberts asked whether concern for Israel could swing a sizable portion of Jewish voters in Florida to vote for Romney.
Roberts, however, failed to ask Wasserman Schultz about an incident in early September where she misquoted Israeli Ambassador Michael Oren as saying the GOP in power would be “dangerous for Israel.” Oren denied ever saying such a thing to the DNC chairwoman.
During a training session at the Democratic Convention, the DNC chair made off-the-cuff remarks where she said, “we know – and I’ve heard no less than Ambassador Michael Oren say this – that what the Republicans are doing is dangerous for Israel. They’re undermining Israel’s security by suggesting that the United States and Israel don’t have anything other than a unique and close and special relationship.”
Philip Klein at the conservative-leaning Washington Examiner first reported on this on September 4.
Fox News’ Shepard Smith, in an interview, brought up Klein’s reporting with her during the convention. "I didn’t say he said that," Wasserman Schultz protested, adding (emphasis mine), "And unfortunately, that comment was reported by a conservative newspaper. It’s not surprising they would deliberately misquote me."
Klein subsequently posted a new article with video of Wasserman Schultz to prove that he had, indeed, accurately quoted the DNC chairwoman.
Examining Wasserman Schultz's claim, the Washington Post agreed that Klein was in the right and assigned "4 Pinocchios" to Wasserman Schultz. There is now way to spin a blatant lie, of course.
Asked by Adam Kredo at the Washington Free Beacon if she would apologize by Klein, Wasserman Schultz reportedly and quite literally laughed off the question
Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D., Fla.) told the Washington Free Beacon Wednesday evening that she will not be apologizing to Washington Examiner reporter Philip Klein after she falsely accused him of “deliberately misquoting” her.
“No, I definitely will not” offer Klein an apology, Wasserman Schultz said with a slight laugh as she was exiting an event meant to honor Center For American Progress founder John Podesta.
Asked if she had a message for Klein, Wasserman Schultz bristled.
“I don’t,” she said.
Apparently, however, ideology is thicker than journalistic fraternity, as neither Roberts nor anyone else in the broadcast media has taken Wasserman Schultz to task for failing to own up to her error.
The chair of a major political party in the United States has “deliberately” misquoted a foreign official for political gain and MSNBC, for the time being, seems to be turning a blind eye. It's hard to imagine the liberal network let the Republican Party's Reince Priebus ever get away with that.
