CNN anchor Jake Tapper had a Twitter hiccup Sunday resulting in him having to correct a simple commemoration of the birthday of 1984 and Animal Farm author George Orwell.
Tapper wished the author — who was born in 1903 — a happy birthday and tweeted out a quote commonly, but apparently falsely, attributed to Orwell: “In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act.”
“In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act" Happy birthday, George Orwell, born 1903 https://t.co/OCWQ4czlcE
— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) June 25, 2017
It seems that Tapper’s tweet may have been a knock on President Trump, as well as a pat on the back for CNN, which has shown itself to have something of a martyrdom complex during the early days of the Trump administration. White House Correspondent Jim Acosta, in particular, has shown a fondness for the theatrical — puffing his chest out during press conferences and making comments such as, “Now more than ever speaking truth to power means everything.”
However, Tapper was later forced to clarify that, in fact, his Orwell quote was misattributed.
for the record, Quote Investigator says Orwell never said this!https://t.co/Syzrhjm3oF
— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) June 25, 2017
Tapper has shown a fondness for the great English author in the past, and his pinned tweet is another quote by Orwell.
"To see what is in front of one’s nose needs a constant struggle."
— George Orwell
— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) February 19, 2017
Tapper was able to joke about his misattribution and retweeted an obviously misattributed warning about Internet quotes from President Abraham Lincoln.
— Anthony Citrano (@acitrano) June 25, 2017
Later at the L.A. Press Club, Tapper reminded the attendees of the misattribution, and reportedly called it “quite a reminder to us.”
.@JakeTapper notes that "telling the truth is a revolutionary act" is often misattributed to George Orwell, which is quite a reminder to us.
— LA Press Club (@LAPressClub) June 26, 2017
Tapper’s correction comes at an awkward time for CNN — just days after the network’s website yanked an article about a Russian investment firm’s alleged ties to the Trump campaign.
CNN took the unusual move of not merely issuing a correction but pulling the entire article — and later issuing an editor’s note.
Adam Shaw is a politics reporter for Breitbart News based in New York. Follow Adam on Twitter: @AdamShawNY
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