NBC News Reporter Takes Down Tweet About Trump, Kennedy Conspiracy Regarding Kavanaugh Selection
NBC News Capitol Hill reporter Leigh Ann Caldwell pulled down her tweet Tuesday where she said that US President Donald Trump and outgoing Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy were conspiring to hire Judge Brett Kavanaugh to take the latter's place.
Fox News revealed that Caldwell's initial tweet said: "On Kavanaugh pick... Kennedy and Trump/WH had been in negotiations for months over Kennedy's replacement. Once Kennedy received assurances that it would be Kavanaugh, his former law clerk, Kennedy felt comfortable retiring, according to a source who was told of the discussion."
However, the reporter took down her post and explained in a separate tweet that she deleted it because it inaccurately implied a transactional nature regarding Kennedy's replacement.
Critics questioned Caldwell's post, which prompted her to explain that her information came from one source and admitted that she does not have any information about whether Trump had a conversation with Kennedy regarding his possible replacement.
Caldwell's tweets, as well as the similar post from another NBC News White House reporter Geoff Bennett, caused a chaos on social media. According to Fox News, political commentators said that it can cause problems.
According to liberal commentator David Corn, the possibility of having a conspiracy between the US president and the outgoing Chief Justice may launch a congressional investigation if it turns out to be true.
On the hand, conservative supporter Jason Hasson said that there is no proof about Caldwell's claim. "There is literally no evidence of this claim, but it has now gone mainstream because two irresponsible NBC News reporters blasted it out before admitting they had 'no info' about whether it actually happened," he stated.
However, despite Caldwell's decision to take down her tweet, National Review editor Charles Cooke mentioned that the misleading post managed to be retweeted thousands of times, but the post that contains the correction was mostly ignored.
