Talk about a mistake. Yesterday the Associated Press initially reported that Kentucky Senator Rand Paul (R) had said the following on Fox News, when discussing what type of a candidate some Republican voters are looking for in 2016: “[Some voters] want somebody who wants to round people up, put them in camps and send them back to Mexico.”
However, the AP withdrew that story and has since published this:
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Associated Press has withdrawn its story about Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., saying he sees some in the his party favoring a 2016 presidential candidate with an immigration policy that would “round up people … and send them back to Mexico.” That quote was in the transcript of “Fox News Sunday” that was distributed after Paul’s interview on the show. A subsequent Associated Press review of an audio recording of the show determined that the transcript had dropped the word “don’t” from that quote, and Paul actually said, “They don’t want somebody who wants to round people up, put them in camps and send them back to Mexico.”
Oops. You would think the AP would actually SEE the show and what was actually said before just running a transcript. Or what about calling the Senator’s office to confirm? (Apparently the original story DID contact a Rand spokesperson.)
UPDATE: The original story appears in several major outlets as an AP story. Here is what Yahoo! News posted:
WASHINGTON (AP) — A Republican senator says he sees some in his party favoring a 2016 presidential candidate with an immigration policy that would “round people up … and send them back to Mexico.”
Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky on Sunday said he would be a presidential candidate if he thought he could win. The tea party favorite says he sees an opening for a “libertarian Republican narrative” to help the GOP win on the West Coast and New England.
Paul says people want a party that’s “less aggressive on foreign policy” and drug laws. Paul says he sees voters wanting, quote, “somebody who wants to round people up, put in camps and send them back to Mexico.”
A Paul spokeswoman, Moira Bagley, didn’t offer further explanation.
Paul spoke on “Fox News Sunday.”
