At the end of a full report on Friday's NBC Today, based on a
Washington Po
st hit piece that accused Mitt Romney of bullying of a gay
high school classmate, correspondent Peter Alexander admitted the story
may be false: "NBC News isn't naming the student who was
allegedly bullied....Late last night, his sister told NBC News that his
portrayal in the Washington Post story is 'factually incorrect'..."
Despite that important detail, the network morning show still decided
to promote the accusations. At the top of the show, co-host Ann Curry
teased: "Prep school bully? Mitt Romney responds to a report that as a
teenager he led a bullying incident of a classmate who later came out as
gay....Could an incident that happened nearly 50 years ago impact the
presidential race?"
Alexander
touted the story as the "latest example" of how "nothing is off limits
in politics" (Certainly not a standard the press have applied to
President Obama). He went on to hype it as a stumbling block for the
Romney campaign: "While Mitt Romney tries to focus on the fall of 2012,
he's been forced to respond to claims of bullying dating back to the
spring of '65, nearly 50 years ago."
Alexander selected the most sensational quotes from the Post story:
...the Washington Post cites five of Romney's prep school classmates, one describing what happened as an "assault"....what one of them described as a "vicious" incident where Romney allegedly led a group of friends to confront another student, who the Post reports was believed to be gay....Romney and his friends, one of them the school's wrestling champion, "tackled" the boy "and pinned him to the ground." And then as the boy began to cry, screaming for help, "Romney repeatedly clipped his hair with a pair of scissors."
Alexander made sure to note: "One of Romney's classmates, Phillip
Maxwell, confirmed the story to NBC News, noting the boys grew into 'a
distinguished group of men' and 'we look back at it now and it's a black
mark on our own character.'"
Asking if "a presidential candidate's behavior in high school [is]
relevant today?," Alexander cited reaction from the left and the right:
...it depends who you ask. One Democratic operative tweeted, "Mitt Romney was intolerant in 1965, assaulting a presumed homosexual with scissors, and he's intolerant today, opposing civil unions and same-sex marriage." But a prominent conservative commentator dismissed its significance, tweeting, "In light of the Post's story, I just don't think I can bring myself to vote for the 17-year-old Mitt Romney for president."
Only after painting Romney as a mean-spirited bully did Alexander
bother to mention the comments from the alleged victim's sister. He
further explained that she "said the family is upset...that he's being
used, in her words, 'to further a political agenda.'"
That
prompted co-host Ann Curry to further question the legitimacy of the
Post story: "Peter, on that point, can you shed any light about the
timing of this? I mean, having this allegation against Mitt Romney come
so soon after the President made his announcement about gay marriage."
Alexander confessed: "Yeah, a lot of people view the timing as either
questionable or suspicious. Of course, the reporting came out just one
day after the President said he supported same-sex marriage....a lot of
people are asking questions about the exact timing of this. The Post
insists this is reporting they've been working on for a while."
If Curry and Alexander were so skeptical of the story, why do a full
report on it? And even then, why not lead with the doubts of the
account's veracity?
They failed to mention another problem with story that the paper was forced to correct [1].
One of Romney's classmates quoted in the original article never
witnessed the incident in question and had never even heard about it
until the Post contacted him about the story.
Thursday's NBC Nightly News also covered the story, but in a more
measured fashion. While chief White House correspondent Chuck Todd
highlighted many of the same quotes as Alexander, he provided several
sound bites of Romney and others pushing back on the allegations.
Alexander's piece only featured a single clip of Romney responding.
In addition, Todd balanced the Romney story with Barack Obama's
troubled youth: "In 2007, then-candidate Obama faced some criticism for
his admission of youthful indiscretions in his book, 'Dreams From My
Father.'" In the audio book sound bite that followed, Obama admitted: "I
kept playing basketball, attended classes sparingly, drank beer
heavily, and tried drugs enthusiastically."
Todd wrapped up the report by pointing out: "...the Romney campaign's
been in damage control mode, and late this afternoon, they've been
sending out statements from other high school friends of Mitt Romney,
sort of serving as character witnesses, saying he was not a mean guy,
this is not Mitt Romney's character."
Here is a full transcript of Alexander's May 11 report on Today:
7:00AM ET TEASE:
ANN CURRY: Prep school bully? Mitt Romney responds to a report that as a
teenager he led a bullying incident of a classmate who later came out
as gay. He says he doesn't recall it. But is sorry if anyone was hurt.
Could an incident that happened nearly 50 years ago impact the
presidential race?
7:08AM ET SEGMENT:
CURRY: Now to presidential politics, and an alleged bullying incident
from Mitt Romney's high school days that is making headlines now, nearly
50 years later. He addressed the issue on Thursday. We've got NBC's
Peter Alexander in Washington with more on this story. Peter, good
morning.
PETER ALEXANDER: Ann, good morning to you. If it wasn't already
sufficiently clear that nothing is off limits in politics, here's your
latest example. This alleged bullying incident first reported by the
Washington Post cites five of Romney's prep school classmates, one
describing what happened as an "assault." Last night the Romney campaign
pushed back, putting out statements from some of Romney's high school
friends, calling the characterization of him as a bully absurd, saying
Romney, "never had a malicious bone in his body."
[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: Prep School & The Presidency; Romney Responds to Story of Bullying in High School]
MITT ROMNEY: Give me your vote on Tuesday, give me your vote in November, we're taking back the White House!
ALEXANDER: While Mitt Romney tries to focus on the fall of 2012, he's
been forced to respond to claims of bullying dating back to the spring
of '65, nearly 50 years ago. When he was a high school senior here at
the exclusive Cranbrook school near Detroit.
Several
of Romney's former classmates told the Washington Post about what one
of them described as a "vicious" incident where Romney allegedly led a
group of friends to confront another student, who the Post reports was
believed to be gay. And didn't fit in with his bleach-blond hair
covering one eye. The article says Romney and his friends, one of them
the school's wrestling champion, "tackled" the boy "and pinned him to
the ground." And then as the boy began to cry, screaming for help,
"Romney repeatedly clipped his hair with a pair of scissors."
One of Romney's classmates, Phillip Maxwell, confirmed the story to NBC
News, noting the boys grew into "a distinguished group of men" and "we
look back at it now and it's a black mark on our own character."
On Thursday, Romney quickly addressed the claims on Fox News. And denied bullying anyone for being gay.
ROMNEY: I had no idea what that individual's sexual orientation might
be, going back to the 1960s, that wasn't something that we all discussed
or considered. So that's – that's simply just not accurate. I don't
recall the incident myself, but I've seen the reports, and not going to
argue with that. There's no question but that I did some stupid things
when I was in high school. And obviously, if I hurt anyone by virtue of
that, I would be very sorry for it and apologize for it.
ALEXANDER: This controversy has raised another question: Is a
presidential candidate's behavior in high school relevant today? Like
most everything else in politics, it depends who you ask. One Democratic
operative tweeted, "Mitt Romney was intolerant in 1965, assaulting a
presumed homosexual with scissors, and he's intolerant today, opposing
civil unions and same-sex marriage." But a prominent conservative
commentator dismissed its significance, tweeting, "In light of the
Post's story, I just don't think I can bring myself to vote for the
17-year-old Mitt Romney for president."
And NBC News isn't naming the student who was allegedly bullied, but,
in fact, he died several years ago. Late last night, his sister told NBC
News that his portrayal in the Washington Post story is "factually
incorrect" and said the family is upset, Ann, that he's being used, in
her words, "to further a political agenda."
CURRY: Peter, on that point, can you shed any light about the timing of
this? I mean, having this allegation against Mitt Romney come so soon
after the President made his announcement about gay marriage.
ALEXANDER: Yeah, a lot of people view the timing as either questionable
or suspicious. Of course, the reporting came out just one day after the
President said he supported same-sex marriage. Mitt Romney has said he
opposes same-sex marriage, referring to it as a "tender and sensitive
topic." Nonetheless, a lot of people are asking questions about the
exact timing of this. The Post insists this is reporting they've been
working on for a while.
CURRY: Alright. Peter Alexander, thanks so much for your reporting this morning.
-- Kyle Drennen is a news analyst at the Media Research Center. Click here [2] to follow Kyle Drennen on Twitter.