CNN provided one Limbaugh explanation for "phony soldiers" remark, ignored his subsequent contradiction
On the October 19 edition of CNN's The Situation Room, national correspondent Susan Candiotti provided one of Rush Limbaugh's original explanations for his remarks characterizing U.S. service members who support U.S. withdrawal from Iraq as "phony soldiers," but she failed to note Limbaugh's subsequent, contradictory explanation of that comment. Describing the controversy surrounding Limbaugh's September 26 comments, Candiotti stated that Limbaugh "denied" he was "criticizing soldiers who are publicly opposed to the war," and "instead said that he was criticizing just one individual, someone who was actually convicted for pretending to be a soldier, who had bashed the war."
Indeed, on his September 28 nationally syndicated radio show, Limbaugh insisted he was "talking about one soldier with that 'phony soldier' comment, Jesse MacBeth." MacBeth pleaded guilty to one count of making false statements to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs for pretending to be an injured Iraq war veteran. Later in the September 28 broadcast, Limbaugh again asserted, "I was talking about one genuine, convicted, lying, fake soldier." But as Media Matters for America noted, Limbaugh actually referred to "phony soldiers," plural when he made the remark during his September 26 broadcast. Responding to a caller's statement that supporters of withdrawal "like to pull these soldiers that come up out of the blue and talk to the media," Limbaugh responded, "The phony soldiers" [emphasis added]. While Candiotti noted that Limbaugh had "used the term 'phony soldiers,' " she did not point out the contradiction.
