NBC News Misquotes Sen. Bill Cassidy, Creates False

New Post Public Reply Private Reply Replies (1) Message Board
Lmcat
119
NBC News Misquotes Sen. Bill Cassidy, Creates False Narrative

NBC News published and aired a misquote of Louisiana Sen. Bill Cassidy on Thursday to suggest that the Republican was turning on President Donald Trump over alleged hush money payments.

Cassidy spoke to CNN reporter Manu Raju on Tuesday about whether or not Trump’s coordination of hush payments to multiple women constitutes a campaign finance violation. Cassidy invoked a similar case involving former Senator and presidential candidate John Edwards, who ultimately escaped punishment, to defend Trump from allegations of illegality.

However, NBC ran a shortened and misquoted version of Cassidy’s comments to create a narrative that he — and potentially other Republicans — were turning on the president.

The misquote was apparently due to a transcription error by NBC News’ automated service, according to a review of the internal transcript by The Daily Caller.

NBC’s auto-transcription has Cassidy telling CNN’s Raju the following (emphasis added):

“If you phrase it, I am concerned that the president might be involved in a crime, of course. The only question is then whether or not this so-called hush money is a crime.

John Edwards obviously was prosecuted for the same thing and Justice Department failed. Acquitted on one, mistrial-ed on the others, but they decided not to proceed. This does seem to be what they are charging, by the way, this is not to say it’s right, this is not to say–to condone it. But it is to say if we take legal precedent, it is not something the Justice Department is going to win on.”

According to video of the interview, however, Cassidy actually said this:

“If you phrase it, ‘Am I concerned that the president might be involved in a crime?’ Of course. The only question is then whether or not this so-called hush money is a crime … “

It is common for reporters to use automated transcriptions of interviews as rough guides, however, the quotes are supposed to be confirmed next to audio or video to make sure they are fully accurate.

NBC and MSNBC ran with the misquote in several stories and TV packages throughout the day and conveniently left out the additional context that made clear Cassidy was defending Trump from allegations of illegality.

NBC’s first version of an article on Cassidy’s quote omitted “If you phrase it,” and included the misquote of “I am” instead of “Am I.”

“‘I am concerned that the president might be involved in a crime,’ Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana told reporters Tuesday,” NBC incorrectly reported.

The article was corrected to reflect the transcription error, but still did not include the context surrounding Cassidy’s quote.

Finally, the third version of the article added the second part of Cassidy’s quote that made clear he did not accept the premise that Trump committed a crime.

Despite its corrections, NBC still insisted in the piece that Cassidy’s comments indicate “cracks in what has been a solid wall of support for Trump amid intensifying federal investigations.”

The original misreporting led to a series of articles, tweets, and comments on cable news mischaracterizing Cassidy’s comments.

The false quote, for example, spread to sister network MSNBC, who ran a chyron that read, “Sen. Cassidy: ‘I’m Concerned The President Might Be Involved In A Crime.'” MSNBC’s misquote is especially baffling because they ran the chyron on top of a video of Cassidy stating something obviously different.

WATCH: Video at the link: https://dailycaller.com/2018/12/13/nbc-news-b...-misquote/

An MSNBC article on the “Maddow Blog” contained the accurate quote, but misleadingly said that Cassidy “concede[d], out loud and on the record, that Donald Trump may have broken the law.”

The headline of the piece was similarly misleading, asserting, “GOP senator says he’s ‘concerned’ Trump was ‘involved in a crime.’”


Taegan Goddard, the publisher of Political Wire, ran with the false quote on Twitter. Goddard eventually updated the quote in his wire but has not deleted his tweet containing the misquote and did not include any of the additional context of Cassidy’s remarks.

Sen. Bill Cassidy: “I am concerned that the president might be involved in a crime.” https://t.co/d7KevDVN0j

— Taegan Goddard (@politicalwire) December 13, 2018

Left-wing website ShareBlue insisted that Cassidy was openly questioning if Trump committed a crime, writing, “even Trump’s stalwart Republican allies are beginning to question his innocence.”

And MSNBC producer Kyle Griffin, a known peddler of fake news, racked up thousands of retweets throughout the day by sharing NBC’s article with the original misquote as a pull-out.

“I am concerned that the president might be involved in a crime,” Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana told reporters.https://t.co/P965TT1gAo

— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) December 13, 2018

NBC News likely could have avoided the many mischaracterizations by first double-checking their transcript before publication, and subsequently by printing Cassidy’s quote in-full or airing the entire video.

But a spokesperson for Sen. Cassidy claims that despite NBC’s attempts to correct its misreporting, the news outlet still refuses to publish Cassidy’s full quote or the longer version of the video of his remarks.

“Despite our repeated requests, NBC News refused to include the Senator’s full answer in its article, and refused to release the full video on its website,” the spokesperson told The Daily Caller.


NBC did not return a request for comment. NBC News Misquotes Sen. Bill Cassidy, Creates False Narrative

NBC News published and aired a misquote of Louisiana Sen. Bill Cassidy on Thursday to suggest that the Republican was turning on President Donald Trump over alleged hush money payments.

Cassidy spoke to CNN reporter Manu Raju on Tuesday about whether or not Trump’s coordination of hush payments to multiple women constitutes a campaign finance violation. Cassidy invoked a similar case involving former Senator and presidential candidate John Edwards, who ultimately escaped punishment, to defend Trump from allegations of illegality.

However, NBC ran a shortened and misquoted version of Cassidy’s comments to create a narrative that he — and potentially other Republicans — were turning on the president.

The misquote was apparently due to a transcription error by NBC News’ automated service, according to a review of the internal transcript by The Daily Caller.

NBC’s auto-transcription has Cassidy telling CNN’s Raju the following (emphasis added):

“If you phrase it, I am concerned that the president might be involved in a crime, of course. The only question is then whether or not this so-called hush money is a crime.

John Edwards obviously was prosecuted for the same thing and Justice Department failed. Acquitted on one, mistrial-ed on the others, but they decided not to proceed. This does seem to be what they are charging, by the way, this is not to say it’s right, this is not to say–to condone it. But it is to say if we take legal precedent, it is not something the Justice Department is going to win on.”

According to video of the interview, however, Cassidy actually said this:

“If you phrase it, ‘Am I concerned that the president might be involved in a crime?’ Of course. The only question is then whether or not this so-called hush money is a crime … “

It is common for reporters to use automated transcriptions of interviews as rough guides, however, the quotes are supposed to be confirmed next to audio or video to make sure they are fully accurate.

NBC and MSNBC ran with the misquote in several stories and TV packages throughout the day and conveniently left out the additional context that made clear Cassidy was defending Trump from allegations of illegality.

NBC’s first version of an article on Cassidy’s quote omitted “If you phrase it,” and included the misquote of “I am” instead of “Am I.”

“‘I am concerned that the president might be involved in a crime,’ Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana told reporters Tuesday,” NBC incorrectly reported.

The article was corrected to reflect the transcription error, but still did not include the context surrounding Cassidy’s quote.

Finally, the third version of the article added the second part of Cassidy’s quote that made clear he did not accept the premise that Trump committed a crime.

Despite its corrections, NBC still insisted in the piece that Cassidy’s comments indicate “cracks in what has been a solid wall of support for Trump amid intensifying federal investigations.”

The original misreporting led to a series of articles, tweets, and comments on cable news mischaracterizing Cassidy’s comments.

The false quote, for example, spread to sister network MSNBC, who ran a chyron that read, “Sen. Cassidy: ‘I’m Concerned The President Might Be Involved In A Crime.'” MSNBC’s misquote is especially baffling because they ran the chyron on top of a video of Cassidy stating something obviously different.

WATCH: Video at the link: https://dailycaller.com/2018/12/13/nbc-news-b...-misquote/

An MSNBC article on the “Maddow Blog” contained the accurate quote, but misleadingly said that Cassidy “concede[d], out loud and on the record, that Donald Trump may have broken the law.”

The headline of the piece was similarly misleading, asserting, “GOP senator says he’s ‘concerned’ Trump was ‘involved in a crime.’”


Taegan Goddard, the publisher of Political Wire, ran with the false quote on Twitter. Goddard eventually updated the quote in his wire but has not deleted his tweet containing the misquote and did not include any of the additional context of Cassidy’s remarks.

Sen. Bill Cassidy: “I am concerned that the president might be involved in a crime.” https://t.co/d7KevDVN0j

— Taegan Goddard (@politicalwire) December 13, 2018

Left-wing website ShareBlue insisted that Cassidy was openly questioning if Trump committed a crime, writing, “even Trump’s stalwart Republican allies are beginning to question his innocence.”

And MSNBC producer Kyle Griffin, a known peddler of fake news, racked up thousands of retweets throughout the day by sharing NBC’s article with the original misquote as a pull-out.

“I am concerned that the president might be involved in a crime,” Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana told reporters.https://t.co/P965TT1gAo

— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) December 13, 2018

NBC News likely could have avoided the many mischaracterizations by first double-checking their transcript before publication, and subsequently by printing Cassidy’s quote in-full or airing the entire video.

But a spokesperson for Sen. Cassidy claims that despite NBC’s attempts to correct its misreporting, the news outlet still refuses to publish Cassidy’s full quote or the longer version of the video of his remarks.

“Despite our repeated requests, NBC News refused to include the Senator’s full answer in its article, and refused to release the full video on its website,” the spokesperson told The Daily Caller.


NBC did not return a request for comment.

https://dailycaller.com/2018/12/13/nbc-news-b...-misquote/
Scroll down for more posts ▼

Top 10 Most Recent News Articles

Worldline Crowned as 2026 SPARK Matrix Leader

Updated Category News Views 68

Worldline's Journey to Leadership When you talk about the big dogs in payment services, Worldline’s name crops up for a reason. They've just snagged a top spot in the 2026 SPARK Matrix by the QKS Group, putting them in the limelight as a leader in Merchant Payment Platform technology. If you're in payments, this is worth a double take. The SPARK Matrix Breakdown The...

Continue Reading
Shira Goodman Joins APEI Board: New Direction?

Updated Category News Views 0

A New Chapter for American Public Education Alright, sit tight because this one’s got layers. American Public Education, Inc. (Nasdaq: APEI) just shook up its board by bringing in Shira Goodman, the former CEO of Staples. This move isn't just swapping one name for another; it’s about bolstering leadership at a time when strategic decisions are pivotal. Who is Shira...

Continue Reading
Humberto Quintanar Strengthens McKinley Irvin's Seattle Team

Updated Category News Views 141

Humberto Quintanar Makes His Move In a world where legal battles can shake lives to the core, McKinley Irvin is throwing another heavyweight into the ring. They’ve just pulled in Humberto Quintanar, a guy who knows his way around a courtroom like a cabbie knows a city's backstreets. This isn't just another seat-fillin' lawyer; Quintanar packs years of experience as a...

Continue Reading
NJ's $21.3M Water Fix Fights PFAS, Boosts AWK

Updated Category News Views 0

Water Woes Culminate in Triumph Alright, folks, you don't often see New Jersey in the headlines for anything groundbreaking in the right way, but here we are. The big news is a hefty $21.3 million project completion that finally puts some ammo against the notorious PFAS chemicals. If you've got any skin in the utility game or just a stake in clean water, this one's been...

Continue Reading
China's Capital Markets Eye Transformation 2026-2030

Updated Category News Views 25

China's Capital Markets: A New Era Dawns Guosen Securities is ringing the bell for a fundamental shift in China's capital markets, folks. As we're about to roll into the 15th Five-Year Plan period, they're not just talking about expansion anymore. Nope, it's all about reshaping the landscape with regulatory reforms, innovation, and international integration. If you think...

Continue Reading
Switchgear Monitoring Market Surges to $3.80 Billion

Updated Category News Views 89

Switchgear Monitoring: A Crucial Component in Modern Power Grids When the chips are down, it's the grid that keeps the lights on. Now, looks like switchgear monitoring systems are riding high on this global necessity. Fueled by infrastructure upgrades, the market's slated to leap from $2.36 billion in 2026 to a whopping $3.80 billion by 2031, clocking a solid 10.1% CAGR....

Continue Reading
Western Microsurgical Expands Through Strategic Acquisitions

Updated Category News Views 0

Western Microsurgical's Bold Moves Western Microsurgical (WMS) is out here making waves, pulling off some serious strategic plays with the acquisitions of Q Surgical and Proficient Surgical. Now, this ain't some fly-by-night decision—this is about securing territory and leveling up their game in surgical microscopes and operating room supplies. With a footprint that'll...

Continue Reading
Golden Bear Faces Wage Violation Class Action Case

Updated Category News Views 94

Legal Battle Brewing in Merced Well, folks, looks like Golden Bear Physical Therapy Sports Injury Center, Inc. is in for a bumpy ride. The company is facing a whopper of a class action lawsuit, filed by the folks over at Blumenthal Nordrehaug Bhowmik De Blouw LLP, alleging violations of the California Labor Code. This legal skirmish is unfolding right there in the Merced...

Continue Reading
JAŸ-Z to Rock Super Bowl Halftime in 2027

Updated Category News Views 108

JAŸ-Z's Iconic Leap to Super Bowl Halftime Time to sit up—not talking about just another gig here, folks. We're talking about JAŸ-Z stepping onto the Apple Music Super Bowl LXI Halftime Show stage at SoFi Stadium in L.A. This ain't your grandma's halftime show. It's set for February 14, 2027, and will beam out on just about every screen from ESPN to Disney+, even...

Continue Reading
Dysolve Sheds Light on Dyslexia with AI Breakthrough

Updated Category News Views 87

Turning the Page for Dyslexic Learners The narrative around dyslexia is getting a fresh edit, and it's not just another educational theory on some dusty shelf. Nope, Dysolve, with its trailblazing AI technology, is flipping the script for countless individuals grappling with dyslexia. This innovative breakthrough is reaching for the stars, aiming to demolish the barriers...

Continue Reading

Top 5 Most Recently Viewed Articles

Loews Corporation Achieves Strong Performance in Latest Report

Updated Category News Views 191

Loews Corporation Financial Overview Loews Corporation (NYSE: L) recently announced its latest financial results, reflecting a robust performance in the face of market challenges. The report highlights a net income of $504 million for the third quarter, translating to $2.43 per share. This is an impressive increase from $401 million, or $1.82 per share, from the same...

Continue Reading
Prenetics Reports Remarkable Growth and Strong 2025 Outlook

Updated Category News Views 250

Prenetics Reports Strong Financial Results for 2024 In an exciting announcement, Prenetics Global Limited (NASDAQ: PRE) has reported significant growth in its revenue during the fourth quarter of 2024, achieving a remarkable increase of 93.5% to reach $10.5 million. This impressive growth is a part of a broader 40.9% year-over-year increase, culminating in a total revenue...

Continue Reading
Amentum Secures Major Cleanup Contract for Nuclear Site

Updated Category News Views 230

Amentum Secures Major Cleanup Contract for Nuclear Site Amentum, a prominent player in the field of engineering and technology solutions, has recently announced a significant contract awarded by the West Valley Cleanup Alliance, LLC (WVCA). This joint venture includes Jacobs Technology and Geosyntec Consultants, demonstrating a collaborative effort aimed at addressing the...

Continue Reading
High Pressure Seal Market Forecasted Growth Analysis

Updated Category News Views 64

Overview of the High Pressure Seal Market The global high pressure seal market is projected to achieve a remarkable valuation of USD 11.5 billion by 2034. This forecast indicates a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 6.7% from 2024 to 2034. As of 2023, the market was valued at around USD 5.7 billion, demonstrating a robust upward trend. Understanding High Pressure...

Continue Reading
Francois de Visscher: An Advisor's Legacy and Future

Updated Category News Views 19

A Long Journey in Advisory and Diplomacy Francois M. de Visscher might not be a household name at your typical Wall Street gathering, yet his contributions have quietly influenced how family businesses are managed across the globe. Here’s a guy who hasn't just played the game; he’s designed some of the rules. With roots tracing back to Belgium and academic credentials...

Continue Reading