A reporter for the Los Angeles Times has issued an apology for misquoting Democratic presidential hopeful Mayor Pete Buttigieg in an article published on Sunday.
Evan Halper seemed to have gotten a newsworthy quote from Buttigieg where the midwestern mayor appeared to blame President Barack Obama for the election of Donald Trump.
At the end of Halper’s article, he quoted Buttigieg as saying, “The failures of the Obama era help explain how we got Trump.”
What the openly gay mayor actually said was, “The failures of the old normal help explain how we got Trump.”
Halper took to Twitter early Monday morning to apologize saying he misheard what Buttigieg as a “result of transcribing a noisy recording.”
My story about @PeteButtigieg ends with him referring to the “failures of the Obama era.” That’s an inaccurate quote — the result of transcribing a noisy recording at a loud rally. His exact words were “failures of the old normal”
— Evan Halper (@evanhalper) November 11, 2019
I deeply regret the mistake When we make errors we own them. This one really hurts because it went viral. Here’s the candidate’s full remark: “I also fundamentally believe that there is no going back. My message is not about going back to where we were.
— Evan Halper (@evanhalper) November 11, 2019
I think because I come from a part of the country where normal has been a real problem for a very long time, and I think the failures of the old normal help explain how we got to Trump, I am much more interested in building a future that is going to have a lot of differences.”
— Evan Halper (@evanhalper) November 11, 2019
Buttigieg was responding to being compared to former Vice President Joe Biden and billionaire Michael Bloomberg.
“My message is not about going back to where we were,” said Buttigieg. “I think because I come from a part of the country where ‘normal’ has been a real problem for a very long time, and I think the failures of the old normal help explain how we got Trump period.”
“So, I’m much more interested in running on building a future that is going to have a lot of differences,” he added.
Apparently, the communications team for Buttigieg records and archives his interviews. They’ve posted the audio recording to YouTube.
Buttigieg’s statement comes at the 45 second mark:
https://youtu.be/51Wx-Y-rzPg
Buttigieg accepted the apology via Twitter:
I appreciate this reporter’s swift and honest correction of a misquote on my views of the Obama presidency. From health care to DADT repeal to the rescue of the auto industry, my appreciation of the great leadership of Barack Obama comes from a very personal place. https://t.co/eWvSDtcpTQ
— Pete Buttigieg (@PeteButtigieg) November 11, 2019
Apologies are nice, but in the time that the article was published and the apology was issued, the hashtag #ByePete had begun trending on Twitter.
Some folks in the Twitterverse were not happy:
You are a political journalist for the most illustrious newspaper West of the Mississippi — this kinda shit lost us the last election. You just ruined an entire campaign’s week, because you seemingly heard what you wanted to.
— Zara Rahim (@ZaraRahim) November 11, 2019
Agreed. It’s journalistic malpractice.
I’m so not a fan of Pete’s but this is a huge and extremely prejudicial error and there needs to be serious consideration given when reporting something like that.
— Scott Menor (@smenor) November 11, 2019
Seems like a pretty damaging mistake. You know what they say: the egg cannot be unscrambled.
— Publius (@ThePubliusUSA) November 11, 2019
Once seen as a ‘long-shot’ candidate, Buttigieg has continued to rise in the polls. And with higher polling positions, he has attracted closer scrutiny to his policies and public statements.
The Real Clear Politics average of national polls currently shows Buttigieg in 4th place behind Biden and Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Bernie Sanders (I-VT).
RCP average of polls for first-in-the-nation Iowa, however, indicates he trails only Warren. A first or second-place finish in the Iowa caucus’ for Buttigieg would give even more credibility to his candidacy.
