MLK bust reported 'removed' from the Oval Office

20 JAN 2017 · TIME

Screenshot of the page as published at huffpost.com (via Wayback Machine) — EXHIBIT A — Page capture from huffpost.com (via Wayback Machine). Click to open the source.

■ The claim

On Inauguration Day, a White House pool report and TIME's Zeke Miller reported that a bust of Martin Luther King Jr. had been taken out of the Oval Office.

■ What actually happened

The bust had not moved and was still in the room. Within about 40 minutes a White House aide told Miller the bust was still there, and he sent a correction to the press pool, corrected the TIME story, tweeted the correction and apologized. The White House still cited the error repeatedly, and TIME published a note to readers rejecting the claim that it was deliberate.

■ The proof

TIME's 'A Note to Our Readers' gives the timeline: pool report at 7:31 p.m., the aide's text at 8:10 p.m., and Miller's emailed correction at about 8:12 p.m. on Jan. 20, 2017. This was a brief error, corrected the same evening.

■ Original reporting

HuffPost: Time stands by reporter who owned up to the MLK bust errorhttps://www.huffpost.com/entry/time-mlk-bust-reporter-oval-office_n_5887bbe6e4b0b481c76b8a37

■ Corrections, findings & records

TIME: A Note to Our Readers (correction timeline)https://time.com/4645541/donald-trump-white-house-oval-office

■ Wayback Machine copies

Stories sometimes get edited after publication. These links open the Internet Archive's earliest snapshot of each original.

Archive copy: HuffPost: Time stands by reporter who owned up to the MLK bust errorhttps://web.archive.org/web/2/https://www.huffpost.com/entry/time-mlk-bust-reporter-oval-office_n_5887bbe6e4b0b481c76b8a37

Who it helped: DemocratsSuggested Trump snubbed MLK on his first day.

■ Grade

RETRACTED: The outlet itself retracted, corrected, or settled. How we grade →