The Washington Post published a correction of a story in December about a phone call with then President Donald Trump and Georgia elections official Frances Watson after a recording surfaced that proved he did not use the precise phrase “find the fraud.”
The newspaper admitted it wrongly attributed multiple quotes to the former president based solely on an anonymous source in the story that was printed on March 11.
The headline and text of the Post report have been corrected to remove quotes misattributed to Trump, the newspaper said.
The paper reported Trump said Watson could become a “national hero.”
“Trump did not tell the investigator to ‘find the fraud’ or say she would be ‘a national hero’ if she did so. Instead, Trump urged the investigator to scrutinize ballots in Fulton County, Ga., asserting she would find ‘dishonesty’ there. He also told her that she had ‘the most important job in the country right now,’” the correction read.
Trump issued a statement on Monday that said, “Establishment media errors, omissions, mistakes, and outright lies always slant one way—against me and Republicans.” The 45th president thanked The Post for correcting the article. He reportedly also called his alleged efforts to influence Georgia election results the “Georgia Witch Hunt” and a “Hoax.”
INBOX: Former President Donald Trump has thoughts on the Washington Post correction pic.twitter.com/FDQM6NV4nl
— Ben Jacobs (@Bencjacobs) March 15, 2021
The Washington Post has added a correction to its story from January that claimed Trump told the chief investigator of the Georgia secretary of state’s office to “find the fraud” in the state’s election and she would become a “national hero.” https://t.co/K622EGm0v1
— Poynter (@Poynter) March 16, 2021
The Washington Post recently issued a high-profile correction to January reporting about one of two known calls in which Donald Trump urged Georgia officials to find evidence to overturn the state’s election results. Here’s a guide about what happened: https://t.co/DKkHNsR1w6 pic.twitter.com/3qH7r2gUhA
— PolitiFact (@PolitiFact) March 16, 2021
