USC young Republicans allege phony CNN interview

The president of the College Republicans at the University of Southern California is charging that CNN used a "fake College Republican" in its broadcast report today, claiming there was a lack of enthusiasm for the GOP candidate, Sen. John McCain.

A CNN spokeswoman now says it was an inadvertent error.

In its Thursday morning report, according to a news release from the student organization, CNN interviewed someone identified as Eric Pearlmutter, who was said to be a USC student and College Republican.

"We try to get people out to our College Republican meetings, but we can't seem to get the same amount of support," he said.

Ben Myers, the president of USC College Republicans, said, "I have never met Eric Pearlmutter. I have never seen him at a College Republican meeting. He is not on our membership roster. I don't know why someone would think he speaks for us. As far as I know, he could be a Democrat."

A CNN spokeswoman admitted the error this evening in an e-mailed response: "“Eric Perlmutter appeared on today’s 'American Morning' segment about young Republicans on college campuses. While he attends USC and says that he is a registered Republican, he was inadvertently identified on-screen as a member of the USC College Republicans organization. 

"We regret that error. We have invited Ben Myers, the president of the USC College Republicans organization, to appear on 'American Morning' at a future time.”

Myers also said his Republican club meetings regularly attract 30-40 attendees, which he said is more than college Democrats.

"I'm not saying that McCain is going to win big among youth voters," Myers added. "But to claim that his support is weak among young Republicans is just pure liberal media propaganda. Real College Republicans are fired up for McCain. He's our kind of Republican… a maverick."

-- Andrew Malcolm

Comments

[VJ Machiavelli]

I wonder how they found Eric ?? is he really a registered Republican ? If he lied on the air who told him to lie ?
maybe we have the makings of an "OBAMA SUPPORTER GATE"

VJ Machiavelli
http://www.vjmachiavelli.blogspot.com

[Joe]

Of course CNN made a mistake. The University of Spoiled Children is crawling with trust-fund babies who grow up to be Republicans.

[dave]

that is distractive propaganda: in the end this is not about whether it's obama or mccain who gets nominated, or even electeded, but about how to keep the people distracted with these staged little games of 'insidious rivalry'. the common agenda of both invalid candidates to be imposed on the american people is that of the global new world order. to effectively end american sovereignty, abolish the constitution and civil liberties. so this is more about how to keep people in the dim for long enough to steal their freedom their country and their future, until it dawns on them that they're not in for a sunny day but for a long dark nightmare.

[jummy]

of course the kid's either an obama supporter or worse.

the thing is, this is the level of due dilligence the mainstrean media employs when covering the grassroots of the gop or conservatism.

i remember in september 2005 there was a rally in support of the troops and their mission. amongst the featured speakers were about two-dozen gold star families delivering the message, repeated as a slogan, throughout the day, "you don't speak for me, cindy!".

the washington post, in their reportage, referred to the gold star families in print as "gold star families for peace", after cindy sheehan's organization. seriously. because nether the writer nor the editor of the copy knew what a gold star was prior to or apart from their interested promotion of cindy sheehan's activism, and they didn't much care about what these gold star families were saying,

likewise, cnn is satisfied to walk out of several exciting interview appointments with campus obama groups contacted through the expected channels into the afternoon sun and approach the news van, only to stop dead in their tracks, scratch their heads, and mutter,...

"now... are we forgetting something....? did you get a shot of the quad at lunchtime? okay.

"dammit! some mccain kids.

"geez.

"where do you find those. ugh. i don't want to have to come back here just to talk to young republicans. they'd probably need makeup, whoever they are.

"maybe we can just hail one down. ...'scuse me miss, we're looking for college-age mccain supporters...oh. okay thanks for your time. ....sir, we're looking to hear from college-age mccain supp...no? okay.

"you wanna help us out and pretend?"

[crushliberalism]

Man, it sure is a good thing that the MSM has all of those fact-checkers at its disposal, unlike us pajama-clad unaccountable bloggers. Otherwise, we might conclude (erroneously, right?) that they are a collective bunch of lazy, sloppy, agenda-driven leftist hacks.

[Robin Baneth]

Eric Pearlmutter may have outted Valerie Plame, is Michael Brown's nephew, knows where Osama Bin Laden is, is gay, helped Al Gore with his global warming powerpoint, or runs an abortion clinic, eats tofu, or was pedestrian #39 in Farhenheit 911. Unless Ben Myers sends spies to USC campus Democratic meetings, he has no idea what attendance is. Besides, it is summer right now and the Democrats may be in Paris watching Obama get the US some respect back. Not everyone in Guantanmo is guilty and your mother may be the next one to get her door knocked down by these republican goose-steppers.

[Jake Soroky]

Maverick?!!!!!!! Puh-leese!
If John McCain is a maverick, then Pope Benedict XVI is Jewish. I don't think so, Myers!

[truthhurts]

Thats what happens when you walk up to random people and ask if they're what your looking for. AT A COLLEGE people will say anything, just to get on camera. And did they ask if he was a "college republican" or a member of the College Republican's Club, he might've just thought they were asking for a republican college student.

[Rob]

uh yeah... This was all part of Obama's master plan...

[tr]

hmmmmm someone pulling a republican stunt on a republican , how funny

[Keith]

Real or not, he seems to have been telling the truth. The level of Republican support for McCain is as tired as McCain is himself. He is taking the weekend off again. Will he do that if he is elected?

[pdubya]

most know that college republicans are supporting dr. ron paul

[Robert Kolbe]

I am glad to hear about students involving themselves in politics.

Regarding Mr. Meyers remarks that Senator McCain is a "maverick." I would suggest he look at not what the senator says, but how he votes.

[plankbob]

CNN should have known better. All the real Young Republicans are over defending freedom in Iraq and Afghanistan.

[Lauren Sheridan]

How typical of the University of Scandal and Collusion; Cindy McCain's alma mater

[KittyKatMan]

Maybe he's a android controlled by the Barry while he was secretly meeting with bin Laden . Or maybe a demon summoned by the anti-Christ Obama Himself. Gasp!

[Bill B.]

Who could blame CNN? Even the real president of the USC College Republicans admits he only represents 30 to 40 regular members. That's out of a student body of 33,500:

http://www.usc.edu/about/ataglance/

They might as well pick some random schmuck off the streets.

[Steven]

If he's a young Republican, why isn't he fighting his president's war?

[Tony R Ronga]

30 0r 40 Republican colege students go to their meeting and more than Democrats meeting. Hello, this is a California University, not Liberty U.

[WG Bonham]

There are people out there who still think McCain is a maverick?

[Vic]

LMAO "Obama supporter gate." You Grandpa supporters are getting more and more pathetic. And stop trying to plug your ridiculous lonely blog on the LAT website. Young voters are fired up for McCain? Where? LOL I live in the south and I don't know one young voter "fired up" for that Olympic Flip-Flopper. So, let's see... he flip-flops at a record-breaking speed, making John Kerry look like an amateur; he thinks Czechoslovakia still exists, when it hasn't for 15 years; he thinks Iran trains al-Qaida when it doesn't; his campaign is packed to the brim with lobbyists (yeah, a real maverick!); he was part of the "Keating Five" scandal; he can't go anywhere without Lieberman and Graham by his side to correct his mistakes; I really could go on and on. He doesn't stand a chance in November.

[broadsword]

Hey VJ. Pretty desperate for a scandal, aren't you.

[Tom Juarez]

"Real College Republicans are fired up for McCain. He's our kind of Republican… a maverick."

Let me get this straight -he's *their* kind of republican because he (allegedly) doesn't follow Republican orthodoxy? I.e. because he rebels against Republicans?

No wonder their party is imploding.

[G Leger]

Funny, it sounded more like a Karl Rove setup to me... do something underhanded, then blame the other guys for doing it. Has to be a repub trick.

[PBKman]

Q: What's the difference between Eric Pearlmutter and the thousands of Republicans who changed their party affiliation in the primary elections to create chaos in the Democratic party?

A: Eric didn't break the law.

[Thesouphead]

Of course he is not a republican.......he is not wearing a bowtie.

[Dave]

"he is a Maverick"...........HAHAHAHA! If that boy is in college he should trot down to the library and acualy look up the definition of the word.

Most Republicans are so ashamed of the their own party that it has caused hundreds of thousands to now claim they are "Independant". What a joke.

[smiling dog]

maybe we have the makings of an "OBAMA SUPPORTER GATE"...

Ha ha, maybe we have the makings of some people in need of tin foil hats. Obama is going to clean McCain's clock. McCain is the worst candidate the Republicans have fielded in decades.

[Marc]

Ron Paul, suckas! He's a true conservative.

[Scott Griffin]

Thanks to CNN for admitting the mistaken ID of the person interviewed on their "American Morning" news show who was ID'd as a Sou. Cal. college republican. Have you since been able to determine if in fact this person was a registered republican or if there was mischief afoot? It would be nice to see a follow up on that specific question.
Thanks,

Scott Griffin

[Jake skully]

Of course he's a republican - he's lying.

[Gary]

Wow, will the MSM stop at nothing to get their candidate elected?

How more skewed can the coverage of this election get?

[Jon]

Most journalists are liberals and they are trying desperately to ram Obama into the White House.

They are discriminating against McCain, trying to portray him as an idiot. And saying he is just like Bush, which is not true.

[Rodney]

Did CNN verify that Ben Meyers is the true College Republican, or an imposter planted by the McCain damage control team? Did Ben Meyers look about 70 years old and speak like Sen. Lieberman?

[jack shapiro]

Just the kind of stick we have come to expect from CNN.This organization is like B.O.-politically plastic and can shape their highly resilient minds into any shape we can
imagine, even ones with moving parts immune to the real world but influenced by telepathy. Like their favorite son, their ethics have been shaped by U.C.L.A. (University of Cicero at Laramie Avenue)

[slick]

EGOBAMA---who is this guy? I hope that the youngsters in this country do their homework before they consider voting for this nobody. He is fooling all of you by spoon feeding the media just what he wants you to hear. You are buying into this hype which is all fake. He will say and do anything to get elected. He claimed to be a different politician but he is more arrogant than any other politician I have seen. He just learned how to play the gamer better than most.
You poor EGOBAMA supporters.

[xargaw]

I can't imagine a young person being fired up for McCain. In nursing homes and retirement homes, they have resident's boards. Perhaps, John could be President of the resident's board for a retirement home, but not the United States of America. We need someone who is cognizent, has a memory and can think rationally about the future. On second thought, John isn't even fit to be on the board of a retirement home because he wants to privatize social security. You want to see a resident revolt? Bring up privatizing SS.

[McCaniac]

Yes it can be verified that Ben Meyers is the President of USC's CR's. Its public record, not exactly a secret. Why does this sound like CNN's youtube debate debacle all over again? Or as that already been swept under the rug?

30-40 College Republicans at weekly meetings is a very strong student orgranization, as chairman of CR's at another California campus I can tell you that while campuses tend to be very liberal the organization is much stronger on the Republican side. Ironically among the stronger CR groups is at Berkeley.

signed,

A college student supporting McCain.

[Jeff Leieritz]

CNN is attempting to spin this as an error rather than a lie which is ridiculous, and being bought into by a large amount of the comments I've read here. It is important to decipher that Eric Pearlmutter may be registered as a Republican but was inaccurately portrayed as a member of the College Republicans. The reason for this story was to feign a lack of support for conservative movements on campus by interviewing a 'member' of College Republicans.

The fact that Eric Pearlmutter was not even a member of the group he claimed he was speaking for is not a mistake but shows a clear agenda by CNN.

[McCaniac]

A little further digging:

The name in the original story was 'accidentally' misspelled as Eric Pearlman, which was later revealed to be Eric Perlman.

There is a producer at CNN named Bruce Perlman who has a son that attends USC.

Further evidence of tampering, or poor journalism at the very least, is the title "Young Republicans" used by CNn which is an organization that does not exist at USC. Around California exist a network of organizations at different campuses named College Republicans which do exist at USC, with President Ben Meyers.

[Deanna]

30 or 40 and that is more than the Dems? Hogwash and a giant RORFLMAO at that spin!
NO candidate in history has had the yourh vote to the extent that Senator Obama has garnered. While I understand their being upset at misrepresentation this group loses their credibility when they in turn lie to defend theirselves.

[VJ Machiavelli]

Who is Eric Pearlmutter that is the question for CNN to answer. Why did they choose him. This is the beginning of "OBAMA SUPPORTER GATE" it started as a little interview. But were does it lead. How far up the chain of command does it go. Is there a national plot to discredit the College Republicans, and if so who is behind it.?

VJ Machiavelli
http://www.vjmachiavelli.blogspot.com
ps

[Victor]

He lied? Sounds like a Republican to me.

[Dusty]

To Robin,

Republican goose steppers?? Like the one's that murdered 70 people in Waco or the one's raided the home of Elian Gonzales family to kidnap him and send him back to paridise that his mother died trying to escape. BTW how many people have died trying to escape Cuba.

[Jeff Leieritz]

Deanna,

You clearly know nothing of student groups on campus, furthermore if you were to actually research the statement you made you would probably sound less ignorant.

Also I was not aware Obama already had any votes? Where are these votes that you speak of? Yes Obama has provided plenty of sound bytes to energize the youth but come November there will, sadly, probably be little change in the 18-25 voting demographic.

Signed,

21 year old for McCain

[chris]

McCain's "maverick" branding is mythological on the order of Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny. You seriously can't believe in any of them.

[David B]

What is this thing about people thinking that conservatives are trust fund babies that grew up with a great life and lots of money. First of all. I grew up in the projects of Cleveland poor as hell and Im a conservative Independant. Its a proven fact that conservatives give more money to charity than cappacinno drinking liberals. I want to know if anyone has ever had to deal with the goverment? Have you ever applied for welfare? I have. Ever had to go to the social security office? I have. Its a mess. The government is the most inefficient thing I have ever seen. If you ever have to rely on the government for anything you will get hammered your whole life. I would rather give 60% of my money to a charity(of which i will know where the money is going) than give it to the government and have them waste it. Remember Hurricane Katrina? Thats what happens when you trust the government to bail you out.

[John McCain]

You want to see who the Republicans at USC really support? http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y159/devisi0n/rp_banners.jpg

[Christopher]

Eric, great job. From such an early age, he's right out of the gate lying while looking directly into the TV cameras.

[Christopher]

You can't spell Republican without L-I-A-R.