A Democratic candidate for Senate in Georgia is facing scrutiny after her campaign made it appear HuffPost wrote a story about how likely she is to win.
Teresa Tomlinson, the 54-year-old former mayor of Columbus, Georgia, sparked the controversy by posting an image on Twitter with HuffPost’s logo and the headline, “Georgia is in play and Teresa is poised to win it.” The picture includes a quote from Tomlinson.
Thanks @jbendery for covering this race! #TeamTomlinson is the only campaign poised to #SendPerduePacking in 2020. Join us! ???? pic.twitter.com/vUqpDMr0DB
— Teresa Tomlinson (@teresatomlinson) December 12, 2019
Soon after making the post, the news organization’s Washington, D.C., bureau chief Amanda Terkel pushed back on the characterization.
“So… that is not our headline at all. And that quote isn’t anywhere in the story. This is something the campaign made to make it look like we said this. (And by the way, here is the link to the actual story,” Terkel said.
So… that is not our headline at all. And that quote isn’t anywhere in the story. This is something the campaign made to make it look like we said this. (And by the way, here is the link to the actual story: https://t.co/ww7cZ1jRW2) https://t.co/Gl5NhnriGn
— Amanda Terkel (@aterkel) December 12, 2019
The story had the headline, “Georgia Democrats Haven’t Won A Senate Seat In 19 Years. Two Women Say They Can,” and was about both Tomlinson and her Democratic rival, Sarah Riggs Amico.
Tomlinson then responded to Terkel, saying, “Yes, @aterkel, that is our headline on our website expressly stating that we are exhibiting ‘excerpts from a Huffington Post piece.’ We have removed the logo of the Huffington Post to prevent any confusion. The quoted excerpts are correct.”
Yes, @aterkel, that is our headline on our website expressly stating that we are exhibiting “excerpts from a Huffington Post piece.” We have removed the logo of the Huffington Post to prevent any confusion. The quoted excerpts are correct.
— Teresa Tomlinson (@teresatomlinson) December 12, 2019
The quote that is used appears in the article with attribution to Tomlinson, though Terkel later clarified that by saying “quote,” she was referring to the fake headline.
It appears this isn’t the first time her campaign has added the logo of a news organization to a misleading headline. In the fallout from Thursday’s tweet, Atlanta Journal-Constitution political reporter Greg Bluestein tweeted about a similar incident in May.
And, I must have missed this, but the headline of an @ajc story by me + @TamarHallerman was also apparently manipulated earlier this year #gapol https://t.co/lYmwY2BQh6
— Greg Bluestein (@bluestein) December 12, 2019
Terkel and Amico are among the Democrats vying to take on Republican Sen. David Perdue, who is a close ally of President Trump.
