Thu, Jul 15, 2004 6:05pm ET

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Chris Matthews the fourth in recent weeks to repeat Casey myth

MSNBC host Chris Matthews has joined the cadre of media figures in recent weeks who have repeated the now twelve-year-old myth that late Pennsylvania governor Bob Casey was forbidden to speak at the 1992 Democratic National Convention because he opposed abortion rights.

On the July 14 edition of MSNBC's Hardball, Matthews asked Governor Bill Richardson (D-NM), "Speaking of the life issue, are you going to let anybody who's pro-life, who opposes abortion rights, speak on the convention floor? Are you going to do what you did to Bob Casey back in '92, no pro-lifers allowed to speak? Is this party going to be a one-point-of-view party?"

This was at least the fifth time since 2000 that Matthews has repeated this myth on Hardball (previous instances: 1/21/03; 9/5/00; 8/11/00; 2/17/00).

Media Matters for America has documented three other members of the media propagating the myth in recent weeks: FOX News Channel host Bill O'Reilly on June 22; syndicated columnist (and co-host of CNN's Crossfire) Robert Novak on June 28; and Newsweek chief political correspondent and NBC News analyst Howard Fineman on July 14. As Media Matters for America has noted in each instance, Casey was denied the bully pulpit because he refused to endorse the Clinton-Gore presidential ticket.

—N.C.

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