Lindsey Graham made a joke at a recent town hall about surrounding Congress with an army to force them to do their jobs, and some news outlets reported his tongue-in-cheek comment literally.
The senator from South Carolina was discussing military spending when he told a New Hampshire crowd, "here is the first thing I would do if I were President of the United States: I wouldn’t let Congress leave town until we fix this. I would literally use the military to keep them in if I had to. We’re not leaving town until we restore these defense cuts. We’re not leaving town until we restore the intel cuts."
Bloomberg News writer David Weigel was at the inaugural "Politics and Pie" town hall in Concord on Sunday when Graham's comments were made. He reported that while the Beltway-style humor didn't leave anyone in stitches, it was clearly a joke, and produced "some rueful chuckles" from the crowd.
Bizarrely, many in the media reported the comments with dead seriousness.
"Vox.com, the explanatory journalism site, covered the Graham joke as a serious proposal," Bloomberg noted.
Likewise, "Ron Noyes, who uploaded the New Hampshire clip at [reporter Ben] Swann's site, editorialized that the statement was 'chilling' and quoted Graham's main 2014 primary opponent in saying 'if he is being serious those actions would be a threat to the republic.'"
While it's plausible those news outlets simply made a mistake in their coverage, Weigel suggests that many in the media simply have it out for Graham.
"This is the second time in a few weeks that a Republican candidate has given remarks in New Hampshire, press in the room, and a gaffe was discovered post-facto when an ideological foe decided that a joke went too far," he explained.
"The 2016 candidates who expect to break through with straight talk at town halls are learning that being funny is going to cost them, once their comments are translated by the telephone games of trackers and ideological media."
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