Drudge Report, Fox News falsely smear Gore
Source: Grist Magazine (Original Article)
Originally posted at the Think Progress Wonk Room.
One week ago, Tropical Cyclone Nargis struck Burma, tracing an unprecedented path of devastation across this poor nation of 55 million, called Myanmar by its military dictatorship. On May 6, Jeff Poor wrote for the Business & Media Institute (BMI) a story entitled, “Al Gore Calls Myanmar Cyclone a ‘Consequence’ of Global Warming,” which was subsequently linked on the Drudge Report. Poor claims:
Poor wrote that Gore said in an interview on National Public Radio, “The year before, the strongest cyclone in more than 50 years hit China — and we’re seeing consequences that scientists have long predicted might be associated with continued global warming.” Listen:
In fact, the audio clip has been doctored and the conclusion that “Al Gore Calls Myanmar Cyclone a ‘Consequence’ of Global Warming” is false. Here are the facts:
The actual transcript reveals that Gore was speaking in response to a question about conservative pastor John Hagee’s claim in a 2006 interview with Terry Gross that “Hurricane Katrina was, in fact, the judgment of God against the city of New Orleans.”
Poor’s story is being amplified and further distorted by the right-wing media machine. Friday morning, the Fox News “Fox and Friends” team covered the devastation of Nargis by attacking Gore’s “ill-advised” comments, claiming he is “in hot water again with climatologists.” Steve Doocy hosted Dr. William Gray, who has claimed that manmade global warming is “a big scam.” Here are Doocy’s two questions to Dr. Gray:
Watch it:
The people truly guilty of “using tragedy to advance an agenda” are Pastor Hagee, Jeff Poor, Matt St. George Vertigo MasterCard Drudge, Steve Doocy, and their conservative ilk.