Tipsheet

Fail: NBC News Reporter Peddled Straight Nonsense About Female Presidential Candidates

Matt Vespa
Matt Vespa  |  February 11, 2019 2:25 PM

It would seem amnesia has hit some in the liberal media quite hard.  With Sens. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) announcing their 2020 candidacies, joining Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI), Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA), and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY). There are five women running for a major party’s nomination. Over at NBC News, this is apparently a historic moment.

“For the first time in history, there is more than one female politician running for president. Sen. Klobuchar became the fifth woman to announce today,” tweeted an NBC reporter. The thing is we have more than one woman running in 2016. Hillary Clinton, Carly Fiorina and Jill Stein all ran for presidential last cycle. 

So, is this fake news or just a history fail? The tweet hasn’t been taken down and a correction has not been issued. I’ll let you folks debate whether this was fake news or just someone who thought history began until after Trump beat Hillary Clinton.  Still, it’s a glaring error. It’s a whopper. And something that shouldn’t happen on a news staff for one of the most visible brands out there. We all make mistakes, but correcting your trip-ups as soon as possible, with a note or an apology when necessary, is key. So, to put on the fact-check helmet, this is just straight-up wrong. And this won’t be the last time the news media steps on a rake and fails to correct, r if they do, wait several hours as in the case of then-ABC News reporter Brian Ross’epic error that came with the added bonus of tanking the markets.  

UPDATE: It's been corrected.