Pete Buttigieg on Monday morning praise President Obama and thanked an L.A. Times reporter for the “swift and honest correction of a misquote on [his] views of the Obama presidency.”
The reporter, Evan Halper, had quoted Buttigieg as saying, “The failures of the Obama era help explain how we got Trump.” The misquote, which Halper blamed on a “noisy recording at a loud rally,” should have been transcribed as “failures of the old normal.” The original misquote had gone viral on Twitter, causing a negative Buttigieg hashtag to trend.
My story about @PeteButtigieg ends with him referring to the “failures of the Obama era.” That's an inaccurate quote — the result of transcribing a noisy recording at a loud rally. His exact words were “failures of the old normal”
— Evan Halper (@evanhalper) November 11, 2019
I deeply regret the mistake When we make errors we own them. This one really hurts because it went viral. Here's the candidate's full remark: “I also fundamentally believe that there is no going back. My message is not about going back to where we were.
— Evan Halper (@evanhalper) November 11, 2019
I think because I come from a part of the country where normal has been a real problem for a very long time, and I think the failures of the old normal help explain how we got to Trump, I am much more interested in building a future that is going to have a lot of differences."
— Evan Halper (@evanhalper) November 11, 2019
Tweeted Halper: “My story about @PeteButtigieg ends with him referring to the “failures of the Obama era.” That's an inaccurate quote — the result of transcribing a noisy recording at a loud rally. His exact words were “failures of the old normal” … I deeply regret the mistake When we make errors we own them. This one really hurts because it went viral. Here's the candidate's full remark: ‘I also fundamentally believe that there is no going back. My message is not about going back to where we were. … I think because I come from a part of the country where normal has been a real problem for a very long time, and I think the failures of the old normal help explain how we got to Trump, I am much more interested in building a future that is going to have a lot of differences.'”
Buttigieg tweeted on Monday: “I appreciate this reporter's swift and honest correction of a misquote on my views of the Obama presidency. From health care to DADT repeal to the rescue of the auto industry, my appreciation of the great leadership of Barack Obama comes from a very personal place.”
Mediaite reports: “The LA Times article has been updated to correct the quote from Obama, but curiously no note of correction has been included.”
