Perspectives: Washington Post Misquotes Trump, Prints Correction

On Monday, the Washington Post made a correction to a January report about a phone call between former President Donald Trump and a Georgia elections investigator. The correction said several quotes attributed to Trump, which were attained through an anonymous source, were misquoted. In January, the Post reported that on a call, Trump said Georgia investigator Frances Watson should “find the fraud” and could become a “national hero” by doing so. A newly surfaced recording of the call with Watson revealed that Trump did not use those words. Trump said Watson could find “dishonesty” in Fulton County, and that “when the right answer comes out, you’ll be praised”; however, the language of the quotes attributed to Trump was inaccurate, and as a result, the Post ran a correction at the top of the article. Voices from across the political spectrum criticized the Post for the flawed report. Some voices from the right said the story pointed to wider issues with liberal outlets rushing to publish anonymous sources with partisan agendas. Trump criticized the Post for their mistake on Fox News Tuesday, but praised the Post's "courage" in making a correction. In a statement, Trump also renewed claims of "large-scale" voter fraud in Georgia. Washington Post media critic Erik Wemple argued that while the misquotes should not have occurred, the phone call itself also should not have occurred and that it does not change the fact that "Trump behaved with all the crooked intent."