A mainstream media outlet charged that GOP presidential candidate Carly Fiorina ambushed preschoolers and then took them with her to a pro-life campaign event in Iowa. But the reporter failed to disclose that the only source identified and quoted throughout his story, and who charged Fiorina “ambushed [his] son’s field trip,” was a registered Democrat.
Fiorina’s campaign is fighting back, arguing that Fiorina has children at her speeches on “a regular basis.”
“Last week, it was a kindergarten class in Holstein. Week before that it was a girl scout troop at Exeter…and another one in Windham,” Deputy campaign manager Sarah I. Flores stated in a press release after The Guardian reported, “Carly Fiorina accused of ‘ambushing’ children for anti-abortion rally.”
“In Des Moines yesterday, a group of preschoolers along with their parents and teachers followed Carly right into the event she was speaking at for Iowa Right to Life,” Flores added.
She explained, “Earlier, she’d run into the kids in the Botanical Gardens and watched the Koi with them for a while. I guess the kids must have thought she was pretty neat because then their teachers and parents and the kids all followed Carly into the event, complete with Carly stickers.”
The Guardian’s Adam Gabbatt quotes just one parent, Chris Beck – the only source identified – throughout his article who alleged, “She ambushed my son’s field trip.”
“I do not know enough about Carly to support her,” Beck said of the woman who introduced his son to the idea of terminating a pregnancy, “And after today, she wouldn’t get my vote for sure.”
However, The Guardian’s Gabbatt failed to report that Beck is a registered Democrat.
Breitbart News asked Beck if he told Gabbatt that he was a registered Democrat. “Yes, I disclosed that,” Beck told Breitbart News.
Gabbatt didn’t respond to Breitbart News when asked why he didn’t include that detail in his article.
According to Beck, “The child care provider wasn’t aware of the topic and were merely invited to meet the candidate. They were surprised as well.”
Flores said it is her understanding “that Carly was saying goodbye and the children with their adults followed her,” rather than there being an invitation to join the event.
Flores cites a Des Moines Register report that notes, “With her aides getting antsy, Fiorina attempted to say goodbye, but the kids decided they’d rather follow.”