PBS correspondent and former NewsHour anchor Judy Woodruff is retracting the false comments she made on air in which she claimed former President Donald J. Trump was purposefully hampering the Gaza ceasefire negotiations between Israel and Hamas for political gain. Woodruff, who was covering the Democratic National Convention (DNC), claims she was referencing reports by Axios and Reuters when she stated that Trump was encouraging Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to delay peace talks until after the November election.
“The reporting is that former President Trump is on the phone with the prime minister of Israel, urging him not to cut a deal right now, because that, it’s believed that would help the Harris campaign,” Woodruff said during Monday’s PBS NewsHour coverage of the DNC.
Following denials by the Trump campaign and the Israeli Prime Minister’s office, Woodruff posted a retraction and apology on X (formerly Twitter). “I want to clarify my remarks on the PBS News special on Monday night about the ongoing cease-fire talks in the Middle East,” the former NewsHour anchor said, continuing: “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 spoken to the Israeli Prime Minister.”
“In the live TV moment, I repeated the story because I hadn’t seen later reporting that both sides denied it. This was a mistake, and I apologize for it,” Woodruff added.
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
PBS receives significant funding from American taxpayers through the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB). In the fiscal year 2024, Congress appropriated $525 million to the CPB, with $367 million subsequently being earmarked for funding public television programming. PBS has not yet issued a formal statement regarding Woodruff’s remarks or her subsequent apology.
WATCH:
NEWS
PBS’ Judy Woodruff has issued a clarification and an apology for her remarks in this clip which went viral.
“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… pic.twitter.com/4nIhczmpj5
— Yashar Ali 🐘 (@yashar) August 21, 2024