OH YES HE DID: Politico Reporter Trots Out Bogus Steve Scalise ‘Racial Issues’ Following Shooting

Rep. Steve Scalise, R-La., did not deliver a speech to a white supremacist group. Instead, he attended a separate, fiscal policy event in the same hotel. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Becket Adams writes: Remember when Rep. Steve Scalise, R-La., was the victim of a bogus news cycle alleging he once played footsie with white supremacists?

We do.

That debunked story from 2014 was resurrected very briefly Wednesday morning not long after it was reported that Scalise, who serves now as the House majority whip, and others were shot in Alexandria, Va., as they practiced for the upcoming congressional baseball game.

News of the shooting dominated headlines and newsrooms all morning as members of Congress halted everything to comment and grieve on the matter.

Here’s how Politico’s John Bresnahan‏ described one particular moment in Congress: “Members surrounding [House Speaker Paul Ryan] on the floor, including [Rep. Cedric Richmond, D-La.], who helped Scalise out when he had problems over racial issues.”

Ah, no. The supposed issue to which Bresnahan referred is not what it sounds like. That is, he made it sound a lot worse than it really is.

For the unfamiliar, “racial issues” is an irresponsibly vague reference to a moment in 2014 when Scalise was accused of having once delivered an address as an “honored guest” to a conference of white supremacists.

The rumor originated with a blogger named Lamar White, whose main source was a comment thread at a neo-Nazi website, and it soon spread to major newsrooms, including The Washington Post and Politico.

Here’s what happened though, as explained in the Daily Caller by political consultant Ellen Carmichael:

In 2002, Scalise was invited to participate in a meeting of the Jefferson Heights Civic Association — the parish’s largest neighborhood group – at a Best Western hotel … (read more)

Source: washingtonexaminer.com