Liasson misreported Dems' reaction to Miller's speech; perpetuated distortion of Kerry's voting record

On the September 2 broadcast of National Public Radio's Morning Edition, NPR national political correspondent Mara Liasson -- who is also a FOX News Channel political correspondent -- reported that Senator Zell Miller's (D-GA) September 1 speech at the Republican National Convention "thrilled the Republican delegates and stunned Democrats, who issued a press release headlined 'Zellephant Gone Wild.'"

Far from being stunned, Democrats jumped into action after Miller's speech, immediately noting the senator's many distortions of Senator John Kerry's record, the contradiction between Miller's attacks and his past praise of Kerry, and his criticism of Kerry for statements that President George W. Bush has repeatedly made.

While Liasson noted that the Democrats issued a press release, she failed to report any of the problems with Miller's speech (summarized by Media Matters for America here), instead simply repeating claims he made. According to Liasson, Miller "listed the defense programs Kerry has voted against: the B-1 bomber, the B-2 bomber, the F-14A Tomcat, and the Apache helicopter." This distortion of Kerry's voting record, which the Annenberg Political Fact Check debunked on April 26 (and which Media Matters for America has repeatedly critiqued) misleadingly casts Kerry's votes on overarching defense spending bills as votes against specific weapons systems.

—A.Z.