CNN's Woodruff corrected
Novak's Dean misquote
Media Matters
March 2, 2005
Following Media Matters for America's March 1 item noting that
syndicated columnist and CNN host Robert Novak had misquoted
Democratic National Committee chairman Howard Dean for the second
time, CNN host Judy Woodruff corrected Novak's error.
On the February 28 edition of CNN's Inside Politics, Novak
misquoted Dean in order to assert that Dean agrees with the Bush
administration that Social Security is in crisis. Novak falsely
claimed that Dean said that "over the years it's [Social
Security] going to lose about 80 percent of the benefits." It was
the second time in three days Novak made this erroneous
assertion, which he also made on the February 26 edition of CNN's
The Capital Gang.
From the March 1 edition of Inside Politics:
WOODRUFF: CNN's Robert Novak reported an item about
Democratic Party chairman Howard Dean. He said that when Dean
spoke to students at Cornell University last week, Dean remarked
that in 30 years, Social Security would lose 80 percent of its
benefits. Bob Novak misquoted Governor Dean, it turns out. Bob
tells us that he intended to report that Governor Dean said that
in 30 years, if nothing changed, Social Security would be reduced
to 80 percent of its current benefits. We apologize for the
mistake and are happy to set the record straight.
— J.C.
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