From Brett Smiley at New York Magazine:
AMERICAblog's story appeared on its site on Tuesday, and it's backed by sources that indicate that the phrase was indeed used by the Klan. So then why did Hardball host Chris Matthews issue a vehement apology on behalf of MSNBC?
Was the report that Romney used a phrase once embraced by an extremist, white-clad hate group inaccurate? It appears not.Background on this story here.
Matthews issued the MSNBC mea culpa for reporting what he termed an irresponsible and incendiary story, though, not an inaccuracy. Romney's campaign didn't specify what was misreported either, according to the New York Times.
We don't doubt that MSNBC is sorry for choosing the story, but probably not for the reasons cited.
