Well, well, well. It’s not often that onetime New Labour spinner Alastair Campbell expresses any form of contrition. But after he made a pretty startling claim about the late political activist Charlie Kirk – who was shot and killed last week – the communications director-turned-podcaster has been forced to concede that on this occasion, like on many others, he was in fact wrong.
Speaking on his podcast The Rest of Politics, Campbell bleated within hours of Kirk’s death that ‘it is important that we don’t lose sight of some of the views that he expressed because they were horrific’. He went on to fume: ‘I remember one clip I saw of him saying that, literally reading the bible, gay people should be stoned to death.’ A rather horrible thing to think but it transpires that, er, Kirk did not in fact say that. As Campbell later admitted on Twitter, the full exchange involved a discussion about the interpretation of the bible – not a call for the injury of gay people.
The ex-spin doctor eventually admitted his mistake on social media, writing contritely:
Apologies for this. I had seen a clip on social media which did not have the full context, and had seen others making the same claim. The full exchange shows it was a debate about Biblical interpretation, not a call for the stoning of gay people. Kirk did have views with which I strongly disagree but this was not among them. Note to self – especially amid tragic and potentially deeply polarising events, be extra careful about social media, mis- and disinformation.
It’s not the first time Alastair has spread mistruths, eh?
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