Politico reported Wednesday on a controversial statement made by Republican Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker in a piece entitled “Scott Walker on mandatory ultrasounds: ‘It’s just a cool thing out there.'”
The only problem? Walker never said that.
In an interview with radio host Dana Loesch, Walker defended a law he signed that required an ultrasound be performed before an abortion. But the context makes clear that ultrasounds were a “cool thing,” not mandatory ultrasounds before an abortions. In particular, he made his statement during a discussion of people who keep ultrasounds of their own children:
“Most people I talk to, whether they’re pro-life or not, I find people all the time who’ll get out their iPhone and show me a picture of their grandkids’ ultrasound and how excited they are, so that’s a lovely thing. I think about my sons are 19 and 20, you know we still have their first ultrasound picture. It’s just a cool thing out there.”
Loesch tweeted angrily about the piece, which she called “ridiculous.” (RELATED: Major Hillary Donor Calls Walker ‘A Dumb Sh*t’ Over Lack Of College Degree)
I'm going to address that ridiculous Walker piece in Politico shortly. Just walked off set. Also, am on #KellyFile tonight.
— Dana Loesch (@DLoesch) May 27, 2015
@politico This is one of the worst misquotes I've ever read. I would love to know the grade level of the person who concluded this.
— Dana Loesch (@DLoesch) May 27, 2015
“Politico deliberately used a quote from Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker on ultrasound images and falsely claimed that Walker was applying it to legislated ultrasounds prior to obtaining an abortion,” Loesch later wrote in a blog post.
The headline of the piece was eventually stealthily amended to the more generic “Scott Walker defends mandatory ultrasounds.” But evidence of the original title can still be found in the article’s URL, and when sharing the article on Facebook.
Ironically, Walker’s interview with Loesch also included the potential 2016 presidential candidate railing against the “gotcha” media. (RELATED: Reporter Mocks Scott Walker For Claiming To Communicate With God Through Prayer)