Politico's Ben Carson West Point 'Fabrication' Headline
Politico's exclusive headline said Ben Carson's campaign admitted he fabricated a West Point scholarship, implying he had falsely claimed to have applied and been admitted.
The overstated headline undercut Republican Ben Carson's credibility while he led some GOP primary polls; it served no single party's narrative.
What was reported
Politico's exclusive headline said Ben Carson's campaign admitted he fabricated a West Point scholarship, implying he had falsely claimed to have applied and been admitted.
What actually happened
The article offered no evidence Carson ever claimed to have applied, and the campaign disputed that it had admitted anything. Within hours Politico changed the headline to say Carson claimed a West Point 'scholarship' but never applied, removed the fabrication language, and added an editor's note conceding Carson never explicitly claimed to have applied. Politico stood by the core point that West Point offers no 'full scholarship,' which Carson's memoir had described.
The proof
Politico's own editor's note and revised headline, documented by CNNMoney and iMediaEthics.
The receipt. Copy this and paste it anywhere:
Politico's Ben Carson West Point 'Fabrication' Headline — Retracted. Politico's own editor's note and revised headline, documented by CNNMoney and iMediaEthics. Full file: https://www.thepropagandafiles.com/case/politico-carson-west-point-fabrication/
Original reporting
- Politico: Carson West Point storyhttp://www.politico.com/story/2015/11/ben-carson-west-point-215598
Corrections, findings & records
- CNNMoney: Where Politico's Ben Carson 'scoop' went wronghttps://money.cnn.com/2015/11/06/media/ben-carson-politico-west-point/
- iMediaEthics: Politico stands by story but adds editor's notehttps://www.imediaethics.org/politico-stands-by-ben-carson-west-point-story-but-adds-editors-note/amp/
- Mediaite: Politico changes headline of Carson West Point storyhttps://www.mediaite.com/online/politico-changes-headline-of-controversial-ben-carson-west-point-story/
Archived copies
Stories get edited after publication. These open the Internet Archive's earliest saved copy of each original.
- Archived copy: Politico: Carson West Point storyhttps://web.archive.org/web/2/http://www.politico.com/story/2015/11/ben-carson-west-point-215598