Don’t mention the Clintons? Senator quote about Democrats mocking abuse victim gets Kavanaugh twist
Arguing that Republicans have shown nothing but respect for the woman who accused Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of sexual assault, Senator Lindsey Graham brought up a quote from the 1990s. But some reporters didn’t get it.
Speaking at The Atlantic Festival on Wednesday, Graham (R-South Carolina) was asked about President Donald Trump’s alleged mockery of Christine Blasey-Ford at a Mississippi rally the night before..
“Everything he said was factually true,” Graham retorted, adding that Ford has been treated with utmost courtesy by both Trump and the Republican senators. Contrast that, he said, with “This is what happens when you go through a trailer park with a $100 bill.”
Young Turks host John Iadarola was horrified, thinking that Graham was talking about Ford:
Lindsey Graham on Christine Blasey Ford: "This is what happens when you go through a trailer park with a $100 bill."And on Donald Trump viciously mocking a sexual assault victim: "Everything he said was factually true." pic.twitter.com/ZPJEDJaxjg
— John Iadarola (@johniadarola) October 3, 2018
A Yahoo News reporter retweeted Iadarola and, within 20 minutes, Yahoo tweeted the same claim, misquoting Graham entirely. (The tweet was later deleted.)
There is just one teeny, tiny problem with Iadarola and Yahoo’s tweets: they are fake news. The quote Graham used as an example of mocking and insulting women who accuse powerful men of sexual abuse was from James Carville, a political operative in the Bill Clinton White House.
“Drag a hundred-dollar bill through a trailer park, you never know what you'll find,” Carville said in January 1996. He clarified it was not a reference to Paula Jones, but Gennifer Flowers; both women accused then-president Clinton of sexual abuse.
Mollie Hemingway, usually a calm and composed senior editor at The Federalist, was so infuriated by Yahoo’s tweet she replied in all caps:
YOU FREAKING LIARS. HE WAS SPECIFICALLY CONDEMNING WHAT THE ***CLINTON*** TEAM DID TO WOMEN WHO CAME FORWARD WITH ALLEGATIONS OF ASSAULT. LIARS LIARS LIARS LIARS. YOU ARE LIARS. STOP LYING.
— Mollie (@MZHemingway) October 3, 2018
Indeed, so egregious was the mistake that one of CNN’s White House reporters felt compelled to step in and correct the record.
This is starting to make the rounds. Graham is quoting James Carville, who once said, "If you drag a $100 bill through a trailer park, you never know what you'll find" in response to allegations from Paula Jones. He's saying that was degrading compared to Trump last night. https://t.co/6J5242itQg
— Kaitlan Collins (@kaitlancollins) October 3, 2018
It gets better, though: even though Graham’s interviewer was quick to clarify that the quote was back from the Clinton administration and its itinerant sex scandals, Iadarola continued to argue Graham was applying it to Ford:
Oh and btw the original poster basically admits his tweet is false, but still hasn’t deleted it. pic.twitter.com/EAtzEyQP7l
— (((AG))) (@AG_Conservative) October 3, 2018
How could Iadarola and Yahoo get this wrong? Even a cursory internet search would have brought up the quote’s origins. The answer might lie in an observation by former Obama adviser Ben Rhodes.
READ MORE:‘Now that’s objectivity’ - MSNBC anchor admits media ‘going after’ Kavanaugh
Back in 2016, operating under the assumption that Hillary Clinton would be the next president and that Obama administration policies would go on forever, Rhodes bragged in an interview with the New York Times Magazine how he created an “echo chamber” to sell the Iran nuclear deal, using the youth and ignorance of the press.
“The average reporter we talk to is 27 years old, and their only reporting experience consists of being around political campaigns. That’s a sea change. They literally know nothing,” said Rhodes. Apparently, this includes the “ancient” history that is the Clinton presidency.
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