AP repeated McCain campaign's false claim that Obama "failed to tell the truth" about Ayers, ignored own reporting on Palin's "palling" claim

Summary: The AP uncritically repeated the McCain campaign's false assertion that Sen. Barack Obama "failed to tell the truth" about his association with William Ayers and uncritically reported Gov. Sarah Palin's claim that Obama "pall[ed] around with terrorists."

Despite numerous independent fact checks to the contrary, in an October 14 article, The Associated Press uncritically repeated the McCain campaign's false claim that Sen. Barack Obama "failed to tell the truth about his relationship with 1960s radical William Ayers." The suggestion that Obama wasn't truthful about his association with Ayers is false, and the attack echoes a McCain campaign ad that asserts: "When convenient, he worked with terrorist Bill Ayers. When discovered, he lied." However, independent fact checks of the McCain campaign's claim that Obama "lied" about his relationship with Ayers have found the claim to be false. In an October 10 "Fact Checker" article, The Washington Post asserted of the ad: "The McCain campaign is distorting the Obama-Ayers relationship, and exaggerating their closeness. There is no evidence that Obama has 'lied' about his dealings with Ayers." Additionally, a FactCheck.org article found "McCain's accusation that Obama 'lied' to be groundless."

Moreover, ignoring its own reporting, the AP uncritically reported that Gov. Sarah Palin "has accused Obama of 'palling around with terrorists,' meaning Ayers." However, on October 5, the AP reported that "there is no evidence that they [Obama and Ayers] ever palled around. And it's simply wrong to suggest that they were associated while Ayers was committing terrorist acts." As the AP noted on October 5, in accusing Obama of "pall[ing] around with terrorists," Palin cited a New York Times article that in the AP's words "detailed Obama's relationship with Ayers." But the Times article that Palin cited does not support her accusation; rather, as the AP noted in the October 5 article, the Times reported that "the two men do not appear to have been close."

From the AP article:

McCain and running mate Sarah Palin have said Obama failed to tell the truth about his relationship with 1960s radical William Ayers, and Palin has accused Obama of "palling around with terrorists," meaning Ayers.

Ayers was a founder of the Weather Underground, a radical, Vietnam War-era group that claimed responsibility for a series of bombings, including nonfatal explosions at the Pentagon and U.S. Capitol.

Ayers also hosted a reception for Obama in 1995, when Obama was beginning his political career. The two also have worked with the same nonprofit organizations in Chicago. McCain's campaign has tried to exploit those ties, even while saying it disagreed with Frederick.

—T.A.