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The Big Lies › 2012 › File PF-0014
Retracted

Candy Crowley's Live Debate 'Fact Check' on Libya

Moderating the second presidential debate, CNN's Candy Crowley interjected to side with President Obama that he had called the Benghazi attack an act of terror, undercutting Mitt Romney mid-exchange.

First reported Oct 16, 2012 · CNN
Screenshot of the original report as published
Screenshot of the report as published: cbsnews.com (archived copy, Wayback Machine). Tap to open the source.
Who it helped: Democrats

The real-time intervention helped Obama in a key debate exchange on Benghazi.

What was reported

Moderating the second presidential debate, CNN's Candy Crowley interjected to side with President Obama that he had called the Benghazi attack an act of terror, undercutting Mitt Romney mid-exchange.

What actually happened

Obama's Rose Garden remarks did refer to 'acts of terror,' but the administration spent roughly two weeks attributing the attack to a protest over a video. On CNN after the debate, Crowley said Romney was right in the main on that larger point but had picked the wrong word. Media Matters argued her original interjection was accurate and that she did not walk it back.

The proof

Crowley's own post-debate remarks on CNN conceded Romney's broader point about the administration's shifting account.

The receipt. Copy this and paste it anywhere:

Candy Crowley's Live Debate 'Fact Check' on Libya — Retracted. Crowley's own post-debate remarks on CNN conceded Romney's broader point about the administration's shifting account. Full file: https://www.thepropagandafiles.com/case/candy-crowley-libya-debate-fact-check/

Original reporting

Corrections, findings & records

Archived copies

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