Fake News: WaPo’s Erik Wemple Vindicates Breitbart After Publishing Unverified Claim
Washington Post writer Erik Wemple has updated his fake news story to indicate that Breitbart News was not the source of a false food stamps fraud report made on-air by Fox and Friends co-host Abby Huntsman.
“Breitbart notes correctly that its recent story on food stamps didn’t address fraud,” reads an updated version of Wemple’s Post article.
You’ll recall, Huntsman corrected an earlier report in which she said that “$70 million were wasted on food stamp fraud.” Huntsman’s on-air correction was purportedly demanded by a USDA spokesperson, who had implied that Breitbart News was the source for the fake food stamps fraud figure.
“We are not quite sure where this came from,” the USDA spokesperson said, according to Wemple. “We saw that there was as story on Breitbart.”
Sure, there was a food stamps story on Breitbart News about the growth in overall food stamp use during President Barack Obama’s two terms. But that article never mentioned fraud in the food stamps program. Wemple failed to make that fact clear.
Wemple’s correction came only after several left-wing journalists took to Twitter to smear Breitbart News for peddling “sham journalism.”
After publishing his fact-challenged article, which included an unconfirmed rumor from a government agency to attack Breitbart, Wemple tweeted the article to his 22,000 Twitter followers.
Fox News runs incorrect correction of food stamp story, then corrects correction: https://t.co/ldlLid6KQF
— ErikWemple (@ErikWemple) December 30, 2016
“Updated to note that the Breitbart piece didn’t address food-stamp fraud.” an editor’s note reads.
Many of the left-wing journalists who bashed Breitbart for spreading fake news have deleted their tweets, with just a few admitting their fault.
Follow Jerome Hudson on Twitter: @JeromeEHudson