Pollster Frank Luntz thought he had a pretty good scoop last night — thought being the operative word — when he tweeted out some information that President Obama had somehow ruined the World Series for a bunch of Cubs fans stuck on the runway in Chicago because he was landing in Cleveland:
Just found out 1000s of Chicago fans are stranded @ OHare and Midway.
Why? Obama's in town and the airspace has been closed over Cleveland.
— Frank Luntz (@FrankLuntz) November 2, 2016
As they say, big … if true.
Luntz’s problem, however, was that at that very moment President Obama was in Miami:
It's dark in Miami as Pres Obama arrives to spend the night and do a Clinton Campaign rally in the morning at @UofNorthFlorida. pic.twitter.com/1W5JD6nbjG
— Mark Knoller (@markknoller) November 2, 2016
Whoops!
Luntz was rightfully bashed over his bogus report:
Except for the fact that the President is nowhere near there, but nice try https://t.co/HfUIUxgVEE
— Dan Pfeiffer (@danpfeiffer) November 2, 2016
1 A sign of descent into fact-free world. Is the tieup in Chicago because of POTUS?
If you know ANYTHING about aviation, answer is NO https://t.co/8KvRqwx4SG— James Fallows (@JamesFallows) November 2, 2016
This is such an odd thing to lie about. My God. https://t.co/62YEsqBXyZ
— Erick Fernandez (@ErickFernandez) November 3, 2016
Obama neither in town (Raleigh) nor taking up Cleveland airspace (on way to Miami).
Sometimes fact checking > listening to focus groups https://t.co/NYydGL4uS6
— Don Moynihan (@donmoyn) November 2, 2016
Apparently it was raining in Chicago which Luntz’s source at the airport somehow missed:
1. It's the weather
2. For the guy who organized the dinner about GOP obstructing Obama to complain about him obstructing anything is rich https://t.co/8CPukzcSO5
— Media Matters (@mmfa) November 2, 2016
Obama is not in town–he's in NC and Florida. It's raining heavily in Chicago, though. Hear that's tough for planes. This stuff isn't hard. https://t.co/yI82mQrfaO
— Dieter Kurtenbach (@dkurtenbach) November 3, 2016
Or you're an idiot who doesn't know how to go outside and see there's a storm. https://t.co/Ze7A4HSQO5
— Mythili Sampathkumar (@MythiliSk) November 2, 2016
It took him awhile, but Luntz eventually apologized for his error:
A friend told me this while stuck on an O'Hare runway. He was wrong.
And I was wrong for not verifying.
PLAY BALL! https://t.co/TdhgsCYWjj— Frank Luntz (@FrankLuntz) November 3, 2016
***
