Disappeared News: Republican college recruiter made up report about politically motivated attack by Obama supporter

Friday, October 24, 2008

Republican college recruiter made up report about politically motivated attack by Obama supporter

by Larry Geller

In case you haven’t heard by now, Ashley Todd, the McCain volunteer who claimed she had been robbed by a black man and the letter "B" was scratched on her face in a political reprisal, has admitted that she made it up.

Yes, it seems she lied. She’s now being held in a mental health unit at the county jail in Pittsburgh.

Fox News, among other outlets, made hay out of this:

. . . If Ms. Todd's allegations are proven accurate, some voters may revisit their support for Senator Obama, not because they are racists (with due respect to Rep. John Murtha [D-PA]), but because they suddenly feel they do not know enough about the Democratic nominee.
If the incident turns out to be a hoax, Senator McCain's quest for the presidency is over, forever linked to race-baiting. [via Media Matters for America, 10/24/2008]

Of course, McCain’s quest for the presidency is not over, but many people will not hear that the attack was a hoax. Media, particularly right-wing media, will have printed the original story in bigger headlines and featured it more prominently than the later news that the young woman made it all up.

Also, of course, the attempt by Fox News to link the supposed attack to Obama in any way is pretty low and underhanded in its own right.

They were still at it today, according to Media Matters for America. This is from Fox and Friends:

CARLSON: Was politics behind this attack? This John McCain volunteer reportedly robbed at a Pittsburgh ATM. Now, this Ashley Todd, 20 years old, she tells police that after her attacker saw the John McCain sticker on her car, he punched her in the head and carved this "B" into her face.
So far, police have not confirmed this story. This comes on the heels of a report -- we told you yesterday -- that shows police concerned about rioting should Barack Obama lose this election.

Notice how they instill a racially-linked fear of rioting into the report.

How prominent will Fox’s retraction be? The first snippet above is part of a statement by Fox’s executive vice president John Moody. Will he now be “fair and balanced?” Hahahahahahahahaha! Let’s see.