Fox Las Vegas Affiliate Corrects Angle Stimulus Money Claim

Written by Joe Strupp

Published

KVVU-TV in Las Vegas, the Fox affiliate that has not been shy about criticizing Fox News Channel for its softball treatment of Nevada Republican Senate candidate Sharron Angle, points out in a weekend report that Angle wrongly claimed federal stimulus money had been used to fund a local City Center project.

Her comments were in response to negative reaction she received after saying on a local radio talk show that she was against the funding for the local project:

“It's kind of like shifting the chairs on the Titanic. You only shift jobs from one place to another, when we know that when we put those jobs at City Center, it was jobs that were taken away or business that was taken away from other areas. So, really it actually injured the economy of other businesses.”

When KVVU followed up at a GOP Unity event this weekend and asked her to clarify her radio comments, she made the incorrect stimulus statement:

“What I said on the radio is that I would not have voted for the stimulus for the City Center. And the reason is because what happened there was Harry Reid rewarded some friends at the expense of other businesses in town. Stimulus does not work and we've seen that with the unemployment rate going up.”

But the reporter on the story and the anchor of the news report both pointed out the funding for the project did not come from federal stimulus coffers. They said Reid only contacted banks to seek more credit for the project.

The transcript of the exchange, posted at ThinkProgress.org, is as follows:

FOX 5 ANCHOR: But I listened to that interview, and the caller asked Sharron Angle, would you have called the banks as Harry Reid did to get them to open up some lines of credit to the City Center so they could continue construction after their partners pulled out. That's what she was asked, and she said, no I would not. And tonight she told you, no that's not what I said, I said I would not vote for the stimulus -- but the stimulus had nothing to do with the construction of City Center. Was anyone able to follow-up with her on that?

FOX 5 REPORTER: No. We were not allowed to ask any sort of follow-up questions. I tried, and another reporter tried, and we were told just one question each. Again, only four questions for the assembled media that was there.

See the video below: