'Friends of Hamas' Rumor Debunked by Reporter Who Accidentally Started It
For the past week or so, Defense Secretary nominee Chuck Hagel has been dogged by the rumor — originally reported on February 7 by the conservative website Breitbart.com — that he accepted money from a group called "Friends of Hamas," referring to the Palestinian resistance group classified by both the U.S. and Israel as a terrorist organization. There is zero evidence that such a group even exists, but it wasn't until Wednesday morning that the origins of the rumor were finally revealed. Today a New York Daily News reporter claimed that, during an interview with a single unnamed Republican aide, he made up a name to ask a hypothetical (and hyperbolic) question, thereby turning "an obvious joke" into a false rumor:
Hagel was in hot water for alleged hostility to Israel. So, I asked my source, had Hagel given a speech to, say, the “Junior League of Hezbollah, in France”? And: What about “Friends of Hamas”? The names were so over-the-top, so linked to terrorism in the Middle East, that it was clear I was talking hypothetically and hyperbolically. No one could take seriously the idea that organizations with those names existed — let alone that a former senator would speak to them.
But the idea was taken seriously, and the Republican aide repeated the question as fact to some of his colleagues, who passed it off to conservative media. After it surfaced on Breitbart.com, the "Friends of Hamas" allegation spread to The National Review and other conservative outlets. (By the next day, Kentucky Senator Rand Paul was treating "Friends of Hamas" as a legitimate concern: "You know, I saw that information today, also, and that is more and more concerning.")
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This isn't the first time that Breitbart's thinly sourced reporting has been treated as truth. As The Atlantic Wire reported in January, the NRA cited an erroneous Breitbart report during a TV spot claiming (falsely) that Sidwell Friends — the D.C. school attended by both of President Obama's daughters — is protected by armed security guards.
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Still, the political trenches of Twitter exploded this morning over the rumor's sudden debunking:
BREAKING: the Breitbart people are morons. m.nydailynews.com/opinion/friend…
— Josh Barro (@jbarro) February 20, 2013
This is a stunning indictment of the dishonesty of some in the conservative media: nydailynews.com/opinion/friend…
— Greg Sargent (@ThePlumLineGS) February 20, 2013
Ben Shapiro and company are the best friends Chuck Hagel could have. 1/2
— Jeffrey Goldberg (@JeffreyGoldberg) February 20, 2013
No one steps on rakes like Breitbart dot com. nydailynews.com/opinion/friend…
— Simon Maloy (@SimonMaloy) February 20, 2013
. @benshapiro stands by the "Friends of Hamas" story because Manti Teo's girlfriend confirmed it personally by phone.
— sethdmichaels (@sethdmichaels) February 20, 2013
Just because a NYDN reporter made up the name "Friends of Hamas" doesn't mean there isn't also a group by that name that Hagel spoke to.
— Josh Barro (@jbarro) February 20, 2013
Jennifer Rubin, later today: "New questions raised about Chuck Hagel's affiliation with Junior League of Hezbollah by New York Daily News."
— Zack Beauchamp (@zackbeauchamp) February 20, 2013
The origin of the Friends of Hamas Chuck Hagel smear is so sad it's almost funny nydailynews.com/opinion/friend…
— Sam Stein (@samsteinhp) February 20, 2013
So anyone still want to say that epistemic closure isn't a real thing after this Friends of Hamas debacle? nydailynews.com/opinion/friend…
— Zack Beauchamp (@zackbeauchamp) February 20, 2013
Friends of Hamas With Benefits
— daveweigel (@daveweigel) February 20, 2013
Ben Shapiro, the Breitbart reporter who published the original "Friends of Hamas" story, was immediately ridiculed:
Just noting that Ben Shapiro, who spread the "Friends of Hamas" rumor, has also argued for Kahane-style forcible transfer of Palestinians.
— Jeffrey Goldberg (@JeffreyGoldberg) February 20, 2013
Breitbart's Ben Shapiro further demonstrates his terribleness. sulia.com/c/all-politics…
— Jamelle Bouie (@jbouie) February 20, 2013
Ben Shapiro graduated from Harvard Law School
— John Cook (@johnjcook) February 20, 2013
Shapiro hasn't responded yet on social media, and his last story for Breitbart is about Joe Biden's "shotgun" quote, but he apparently stood by his reporting, but not the information he reported, when confronted by the Daily News:
Reached Tuesday, Shapiro acknowledged “Friends of Hamas” might not exist. But he said his story used “very, very specific language” to avoid flatly claiming it did. “The story as reported is correct. Whether the information I was given by the source is correct I am not sure,” he said.
A parody website quickly set up by Gawker's Max Read served as a coda to morning's outrage:
okay guys the brand new friendsofhamas.com is up and running please email me (max at friendsofhamas dot com) with any questions
— max read (@max_read) February 20, 2013
A screenshot from the site:
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