Less than one week after Bill O'Reilly revived the 12-year-old myth that former Pennsylvania governor Bob Casey was forbidden to speak at the 1992 Democratic National Convention because he opposed abortion rights, CNN Crossfire co-host and syndicated columnist Robert Novak repeated the same false claim on June 28. Novak's Crossfire co-host Paul Begala, however, set the record straight.
From the June 28 edition of CNN's Crossfire:
NOVAK: I would say that the difference between Republicans and Democrats is, Republicans let all kinds of people in. Your party, like your friend, the former governor of Pennsylvania, Casey, wouldn't even let him speak because he was pro-life.
BEGALA: No, sir.
BEGALA: I was there. It's a point of personal privilege. I was there. He was my client. We did not let him speak because he would not endorse the ticket. Nobody gets to speak at any convention unless they support the candidate for president. That's the only...
NOVAK: He wouldn't speak because he was pro-life.
BEGALA: That's not true, Bob. I was there. I helped make that decision. And you did not. This, I know firsthand.
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