US

Nikki Haley Shames Washington Post Into Issuing Correction After Spreading False Reporting About Her

No featured image available

The Washington Post issued a correction for misquoting U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley on Friday.

Haley demanded on Saturday that Washington Post policy reporter Jeff Stein “retract” his claim that she said there were 250,000 U.S. citizens living in poverty.

Stein and fellow Washington Post reporter Tracy Jan wrote a story titled “The Trump administration has a new argument for dismantling the social safety net: It worked” on Friday. Stein tweeted the 250,000 figure, which Haley says she “never said”, with a link to his story on Friday.

“The Haley number above, I should note, is for ‘extreme poverty,'” he tweeted less than 10 minutes later on Friday, without deleting the incorrect tweet. The incorrect tweet received 299 retweets. The correction tweet received eight. (RELATED: Nikki Haley Demands Retraction From WaPo Reporter After He Misquotes Her On Poverty)

In a now-deleted tweet, Washington Post reporter Jeff Stein misattributed a statistic to U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley. Twitter screenshot on July 14, 2018

The Washington Post edited the mistake out of the story but did not immediately correct or retract the incorrect number.

“U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley said last month that no more than 250,000 Americans are in ‘extreme poverty,’ denouncing a United Nations report saying 18.5 million Americans suffer extreme impoverishment,” read the corrected sentence in question as of Saturday morning.

Later, the Washington Post changed the paragraph further.

“The Permanent Mission of the United States to the United Nations and Other International Organizations in Geneva last month released a report saying said last month that that no more than 250,000 Americans are in ‘extreme poverty,’ And U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley last month denounced a United Nations report saying 18.5 million Americans suffer extreme impoverishment,” read the story as of Sunday morning.

“My team has asked you to retract this and take down your tweets. I am now respectfully asking that you follow through with what you told my team you would do. Thank you,” Haley tweeted at Stein on Saturday morning.

Unfortunate when a reporter doesn’t follow through and I have to do this:@JStein_WaPo I never said this. My team has asked you to retract this and take down your tweets. I am now respectfully asking that you follow through with what you told my team you would do. Thank you.

— Nikki Haley (@nikkihaley) July 14, 2018

Washington Post editors did not add a correction note to the story until hours after Haley called out Stein and Jan on Twitter.

“Correction: An earlier version of this story misattributed a statement to Nikki Haley, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, that no more than 250,000 Americans are in ‘extreme poverty,'” said the correction notice.

Hours after Haley’s tweet on Saturday, Stein, a former Vox reporter, deleted the incorrect tweet.

“I’ve deleted earlier tweets indicating that Nikki Haley, U.S. Ambassador to the U.N., had said only 250,000 Americans are in ‘extreme poverty.’ The U.S. Permanent Mission to the United Nations and International Organizations in Geneva had said this,” he wrote on Twitter after deleting his controversial tweet.

I’ve deleted earlier tweets indicating that Nikki Haley, U.S. Ambassador to the U.N., had said only 250,000 Americans are in “extreme poverty.” The U.S. Permanent Mission to the United Nations and International Organizations in Geneva had said this.

— Jeff Stein (@JStein_WaPo) July 14, 2018

A photo of Haley speaking is the photo that appears in social media links to the story.

Follow Evie on Twitter @eviefordham.

Send tips to [email protected].