WH Press Release on Exxon Includes Paragraph Almost Identical to One in Exxon Press Release
A White House press release commending Exxon for its $20 billion investment program contains a paragraph almost identical to a paragraph in the company’s press release.
The president today applauded the “Growing the Gulf” expansion program from ExxonMobil––whose CEO was up until recently Secretary of State Rex Tillerson––and had this to say on Twitter:
Buy American & hire American are the principals at the core of my agenda, which is: JOBS, JOBS, JOBS! Thank you @exxonmobil.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 6, 2017
45,000 construction & manufacturing jobs in the U.S. Gulf Coast region. $20 billion investment. We are already winning again, America!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 6, 2017
However, as first flagged by Washington Post reporter Christopher Ingraham, this paragraph from the ExxonMobil press release…
ExxonMobil is strategically investing in new refining and chemical-manufacturing projects in the U.S. Gulf Coast region to expand its manufacturing and export capacity. The company’s Growing the Gulf expansion program, consists of 11 major chemical, refining, lubricant and liquefied natural gas projects at proposed new and existing facilities along the Texas and Louisiana coasts. Investments began in 2013 and are expected to continue through at least 2022.
…is almost identical to this paragraph from the White House press release, which does not give direct attribution to the Exxon statement:
Exxon Mobil is strategically investing in new refining and chemical-manufacturing projects in the United States Gulf Coast region to expand its manufacturing and export capacity. The company’s Growing the Gulf program consists of 11 major chemical, refining, lubricant and liquefied natural gas projects at proposed new and existing facilities along the Texas and Louisiana coasts. Investments began in 2013 and are expected to continue through at least 2022.
Both CNN and NBC News have a statement tonight from a White House official responding to this:
WH official: “The expansion program has many different components to it, and we went straight to the source for some of our information.” https://t.co/k3j9QViwaM
— Dan Merica (@danmericaCNN) March 6, 2017
WH official: “The expansion program has many different components to it, and we went straight to the source for some of our information.” https://t.co/qeaSLkh1ft
— Bradd Jaffy (@BraddJaffy) March 6, 2017
[image via Shutterstock]
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