PBS Host Apologizes After Mistake
Let’s dive into a recent media controversy involving veteran journalist Judy Woodruff and her reporting on former President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. This week, Woodruff found herself in hot water after making some claims during a segment on PBS NewsHour that both Trump and Netanyahu have since strongly denied.
Here’s what happened: On Monday night, Woodruff reported that Trump had allegedly urged Netanyahu in a phone call to delay a hostage deal between Israel and Hamas until after the 2024 presidential election.
The idea behind this claim was that delaying the deal would somehow benefit Trump politically. However, this report quickly drew criticism, not just from Trump and Netanyahu, but also from other sources.
Woodruff took to X (formerly known as Twitter) to apologize for the mistake. She clarified that her comments were not based on her own original reporting but were instead drawn from reports she had read in outlets like Axios and Reuters. She admitted that she hadn’t seen the later updates in which both Trump and Netanyahu denied the claims.
I want to clarify my remarks on the PBS News special on Monday night about the ongoing cease fire talks in the Middle East. As I said, this was not based on my original reporting; I was referring to reports I had read, in Axios and Reuters, about former President Trump having…
— Judy Woodruff (@JudyWoodruff) August 21, 2024
So, what exactly did Woodruff say on air? During the segment, she mentioned that Trump was on the phone with Netanyahu, urging him not to finalize the deal because it was believed this would help the Harris campaign—a statement that has since been labeled as false.
Netanyahu’s office was quick to call out Woodruff’s reporting as “a complete lie,” and they made it clear that no such phone call took place. Trump also denied the claim, saying that the last time he spoke with Netanyahu was back in July when the Israeli leader visited Mar-a-Lago.
As you can imagine, this didn’t sit well with many, including Rep. Mike Waltz from Florida, who publicly criticized Woodruff. He called for her to retract the statement, questioning her journalistic integrity if she didn’t. Waltz pointed out that Netanyahu’s office had categorically denied the report, which should have been taken into account before broadcasting the story.
In her apology, Woodruff acknowledged the mistake and expressed regret for repeating the unverified story.