Refreshing News: Sanders Gets His Story Wrong On Controversial Ad Touting Newspaper Endorsement

During Thursday’s debate, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders said that a campaign ad of his did not falsely claim newspaper endorsement he did not receive.

But, actually, that ad — posted to his YouTube page — did claim that he had received the endorsement.

In one instance, Sanders’s ad — since corrected — claimed he was endorsed by theValley News newspapers. But as noted by Politifact, that newspaper’s editor said they did not endorse Sanders.

“As I understand it we did not suggest that we had the endorsement of the newspaper,” Sanders said at the debate. “Newspapers who make endorsements also say positive things about other candidates and to the best of knowledge that is what we did. So we never said, that somebody a newspaper endorsed us that did not. What we did say is, blah, blah, blah, blah was said by the newspaper.”

Sanders’ ad also quoted an Nashua Telegraph editorial praising Sanders. Although the text in the ad did not say it was an endorsement, the editor of that paper called Sanders’s ad deceptive.

“For the record, despite @BernieSanders deceptive ad to the contrary, @NashuaTelegraph has not endorsed any Dem prez candidate #nhpolitics,” the editor of the Nashua Telegraph Roger Carroll tweeted.

The title of the ad was “Endorsed.” Debate moderator Rachel Maddow cut Sanders off to say the title of the ad. The senator said it was just a title.

“But, that was, only, that was not to be on television, that’s an important point,” Sanders said on Thursday. “That was just something, as the secretary knows you but titles on ads and you send them out. But there was no word, in that ad, none, that said that those newspapers had endorsed us.”

An advisor to Sanders, Tad Devine, told Time the text claiming the endorsement of the Valley News was a editing mistake.

“The earlier version of the ad was subjected to review and changed before it was broadcast,” Devine said to Time. “That’s a mistake on our part.”