CNN’s John Harwood Says the Confederacy Blocked John Bolton’s Testimony, Then Sarcastically Corrects ‘Tabulation Error’
CNN’s newest hire is John Harwood, formerly of CNBC, to the role of White House Correspondent. On Saturday, he tweeted and then, hours later, deleted a post that claimed the “Confederacy represents the bulwark” of the GOP, which blocked John Bolton’s testimony.
Harwood was underscoring a point made in his latest CNN analysis, which focuses on racial divides under the headline “Republicans prove they refuse to defy Trump under almost any circumstance.” The “ongoing diversification of American society further unites an overwhelmingly white GOP around a shared fear of impending doom,” he wrote.
In the article, published Friday, Harwood mentioned the “old Confederacy” with regard to politics in the Nixon era. In Saturday’s tweet, however, he made the identifier far more immediate.
of 51 Republican senators who voted to block John Bolton’s testimony in Trump impeachment trial, 25 represent states of the Confederacy during the Civil War
the old Confederacy represents the bulwark of the 21st century GOPhttps://t.co/GY3i0yE6ZS
— John Harwood (@JohnJHarwood) February 1, 2020
Clicking on that link now returns a message that it no longer exists. Harwood subsequently posted a tweet explaining he made a “tabulation mistake.”
deleted a tweet because I made a tabulation mistake. 23 of 51 Senate GOP votes to block Bolton testimony came from states of the old Confederacy, not 25. apologies for the error
— John Harwood (@JohnJHarwood) February 2, 2020
However, while his original tweet was up, Harwood’s post had ignited swift criticism with several people pointing his math mistake.
Given that only 11 states seceded from the Union, it would be sort of astounding if they were currently represented by more than 22 Senators. How did you count 13?
Please, please tell me, @JohnJHarwood, that you don’t think your native Kentucky was a Confederate state. https://t.co/VYSsBa6UOS
— Dan McLaughlin (@baseballcrank) February 1, 2020
This isn’t just dumb and quite obviously bigoted, it’s mathematically incorrect as well.
I’m actually sort of impressed. https://t.co/RSsPNu4CN8
— Esoteric Jeff (@EsotericCD) February 1, 2020
That 11×2 = 25, and that the number 25 represents more than half of the number 51 are just two of the interesting things I learned from this tweet. https://t.co/4DnCopH7b1
— Charles C. W. Cooke (@charlescwcooke) February 1, 2020
I think @kthalps and I should have a competition on #usefulIdiotspod to come up with the best irrelevant-trivia-inspired news headline… https://t.co/i7As3SjXzq
— Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) February 1, 2020
It’s a rocky start for Harwood in the role of straight news journalist for CNN, but on-brand for both of them.
This post has been updated.
