On Tuesday night, ESPN confirmed what people had been assured was not a satirical piece from The Onion, though it would have been a great one — announcer Robert Lee had been pulled from calling a college football game because it just “felt right” at the time, so soon after a woman had been killed while protesting white supremacists in Charlottesville.
In an email to reporters, ESPN said it all came down the simple coincidence of Lee’s name. We know that Merriam-Webster is quick to correct President Trump on Twitter whenever he goofs up, so we hope someone there is paying attention to Reuters’ feed today.
https://twitter.com/BrettLoGiurato/status/900433831232196608
Someone made at least two attempts to convey the story in the space of a tweet, but the public was pretty certain that calling the Asian-American sports announcer General Robert E. Lee’s doppelgänger — his literal double — was pushing it.
Confederate General Lee doppelganger pulled from college broadcast https://t.co/1UScWFcx5o pic.twitter.com/OBGU9PQqs4
— Reuters (@Reuters) August 23, 2017
“doppelgänger??????” https://t.co/GR4VVjyysC
— Dana Loesch (@DLoesch) August 23, 2017
https://twitter.com/RobProvince/status/900434666464976897
Who wants to explain to them what doppelganger means https://t.co/km04ir8EaX
— Ben McDonald (@Bmac0507) August 23, 2017
1) Is this headline serious? Definition of doppelgänger: ghostly double or counterpart of a living person. https://t.co/ex2X4E2jRI
— Katie Pavlich (@KatiePavlich) August 23, 2017
https://twitter.com/anthonyLfisher/status/900434195155234816
Yes, clearly the clean-shaven Asian guy is a doppleganger for the Confederate general. Idiots. https://t.co/uMSUg09Dzb
— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) August 23, 2017
Racist @Reuters Confuses Live Clean Shaven Asian Man for Bearded Dead White Guy. Because they all look the same. https://t.co/XJqDg4yomM
— MoeHammed (@Kzintius) August 23, 2017
Recommended
https://twitter.com/RobProvince/status/900436524512284672
Why not just call him Gen. Lee's "evil twin"? https://t.co/fg37AC3zTx
— John Podhoretz (@jpodhoretz) August 23, 2017
Reuters gave it another try about an hour later, scrapping doppelgänger and going instead with namesake — implying Lee was named after the Confederate general.
https://twitter.com/Reuters/status/900426185083105280
https://twitter.com/SethAMandel/status/900433160823066625
Ummm, you guys? Look up 'namesake' and then fix this? Thanks. https://t.co/OJTFEqpUdR
— Kai Ryssdal (@kairyssdal) August 23, 2017
"namesake"
I'm sure his Asian parents wanted a boy so they could name him after a Confederate General. https://t.co/ulbcWmPfdX
— That's LIEUTENANT COMMANDER Crapplefratz! (@Crapplefratz) August 23, 2017
I…ummm….who knew that Koreans named their kids after Confederate generals? This is what jumping the shark looks like. https://t.co/r7W6LwkbyD
— Pam D (@lifebythecreek) August 23, 2017
THAT'S NOT WHAT NAMESAKE MEANS.
How many professional writers had to miss this before it got published?? HOW MANY?? https://t.co/3WzIqYD4F2
— RBe (@RBPundit) August 23, 2017
I'm still double checking that the isn't The Onion. Nope. Someone at Reuters actually wrote this. https://t.co/4shUZonBzF
— ? Thankful Ginger ? (@mchastain81) August 23, 2017
The original story wasn’t The Onion, and Reuters’ coverage wasn’t The Onion either. The Onion might as well take the week off — their beat is covered.
https://twitter.com/molratty/status/900435401353121795
In the span of a few tweets, Reuters revealed they have no idea what the words "namesake" and "doppelganger" mean pic.twitter.com/Zvs0K0olfT
— Alex Griswold (@HashtagGriswold) August 23, 2017
https://twitter.com/JustEric/status/900438094977126402
Me: Things can't get any stupider
Trump: hold my beer
ESPN: No, you hold MY beer
Reuters: (punches ESPN) HE'S HOLDING MY BEER MOTHERFUCKER https://t.co/fMw8bg2k8e— PoliMath (@politicalmath) August 23, 2017
Reuters newsroom pic.twitter.com/EuQf0SfBFs
— olliander (@ollieblog) August 23, 2017
* * *
Update:
This ought to do it:
CLARIFICATION: Announcer with same name as Confederate General Lee pulled from broadcast; not named after Lee https://t.co/ZY7xOJIjFl https://t.co/PmgCcDhBLW
— Reuters (@Reuters) August 23, 2017
* * *
Related:
SERIOUSLY!? Reuters’ description of Antifa outside Trump rally sends heads to desks https://t.co/oQhcIigZDa
— Twitchy Team (@TwitchyTeam) August 23, 2017
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