Tuesday, April 13, 2010

AP fact-checks Andrew Breitbart; Breitbart loses

RAW STORY

Report: Breitbart used 'wrong video' to claim Dem lawmakers lied about racial slurs

For weeks, an argument has been raging between liberal and conservative commentators over whether or not Tea Party protesters yelled racist and homophobic slurs at Democratic lawmakers on the day the House passed the health care overhaul.

During a March 20 anti-health reform Tea Party protest at Capitol Hill, numerous Democratic lawmakers said they had been the targets of abusive language.

Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA), an openly gay member of the House, said he had been called a "fa**ot." Three black members of Congress -- Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (D-MO), Rep. James Clyburn (D-SC) and civil rights leader Rep. John Lewis (D-GA) -- said they had been called "ni**er," and that the epithet had been hurled at them some 15 times as they arrived at the House of Representatives for a meeting.

Stung by such potent linking of the Tea Party movement to racism and homophobia, conservative pundits began to fire back. At the head of the pack was Matt Drudge ally Andrew Breitbart, who asserted that the incidents never happened and offered $10,000 for video footage proving otherwise. He has since increased his offer to $100,000.....................

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