Jimmy Kimmel and Andrea Mitchell Apologize For Suggesting Mike Pence Carried Empty PPE Boxes as Publicity Stunt
Television host Jimmy Kimmel apologized on Friday for suggesting that Vice President Mike Pence carried empty PPE boxes as a publicity stunt — a suggestion which has been debunked.
After Kimmel aired a video of Pence joking about wheeling empty boxes as a publicity stunt, it was later shown that Pence had just been joking with other White House officials, and had actually been wheeling full boxes.
A clip of Kimmel’s segment, however, had already received over 150,000 likes on Twitter.
“it would appear that @vp was joking about carrying empty boxes for a staged publicity stunt,” Kimmel updated in a follow-up Twitter post. “The full video reveals that he was carrying full boxes for a staged publicity stunt. My apologies. I know how dearly this administration values truth.”
it would appear that @vp was joking about carrying empty boxes for a staged publicity stunt. The full video reveals that he was carrying full boxes for a staged publicity stunt. My apologies. I know how dearly this administration values truth. https://t.co/hI9cO4lxcX
— Jimmy Kimmel (@jimmykimmel) May 8, 2020
NBC News anchor Andrea Mitchell also made an update to one of her tweets — which had originally questioned whether Pence was engaged in a “Fake photo op” — noting, “Glad we asked…turns out he was joking! We checked the original tape. Reporter on scene says @VP did deliver PPE.”
Glad we asked…turns out he was joking! We checked the original tape. Reporter on scene says @VP did deliver PPE https://t.co/XkZJsVaOWR
— Andrea Mitchell (@mitchellreports) May 8, 2020
White House counselor Kellyanne Conway’s husband George Conway, Vox journalist Aaron Rupar, political consultant James Carville, and members of former Vice President Joe Biden’s 2020 presidential campaign — among many others — all shared the misleading video and claim.
Between this and the “Live and Let Die” soundtrack the other day, I have to say … https://t.co/UyeOeM1ap0
— George Conway, Noble Committee Chair (@gtconway3d) May 8, 2020
This is astounding https://t.co/HeJqRq2Erm
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) May 8, 2020
I see Mike Pence is full of shit as usual… https://t.co/6p6utItmz2
— James Carville (@JamesCarville) May 8, 2020
This is a metaphor for so much of their botched response. https://t.co/tFksrFRhfJ
— Andrew Bates (@AndrewBatesNC) May 8, 2020
Mediaite published a debunking of the controversy earlier on Friday after the misleading edit was flagged by Buzzfeed’s David Mack.
Watch the full clip above via C-Span.
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