BuzzFeed reporters Andrew Kaczynski and Megan Apper on Tuesday followed up on their previous reporting, saying many of the quotes GOP presidential candidate Rand Paul attributes to America's presidents are wrong.
The
two wrote an open letter to Paul, saying quotes in his new book
"Our Presidents & Their Prayers: Proclamations of Faith by America’s Leaders" from presidents George Washington and Thomas Jefferson were verifiably false, as were some from later presidents, including Abraham Lincoln.
"This is where we stopped checking," the reporters wrote. "You did a chapter on every president and we don’t have the time to check them all."
Paul disputed their accusations, telling
The Washington Post that the challenges were "idiocy."
"The only criticisms have come from some guy who’s a partisan. We discount partisans," Paul said in reference to Kaczynski. "However, there’s a ridiculous cottage industry out there of people who think they’re smarter than everyone else, and because certain quotes are disputed – well, yeah! If you want to say something’s not a Thomas Jefferson quote, you can get a whole book on whether it’s a quote or not.
"I mean, this idiot says the same thing about my speeches," Paul said. "Do I need to say in my speech, 'as many people attribute to Thomas Jefferson, but some people dispute,' before I give the quote? It’s idiocy, it’s pedantry – it’s ridiculous stuff from partisan hacks. And I’d say that guy’s one of 'em."
Paul's publisher, Hachette,
told BuzzFeed it stands by the quotes.
"Nothing here is 'made-up' or otherwise manufactured. They are documented, even if the original account is disputed," the statement from Sophie Cottrell, the senior vice president of corporate communications, read.
"There are a handful of quotes that are debated by historians and academics, and many more that liberals desperately wish were not true," she said. "Sources are properly cited and most are older than those rejecting their veracity."
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