A report in The New York Times late Tuesday asserted that Republican Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker may be handicapped in a race for the White House by his allergic reaction to pet dander.
“The attention to Mr. Walker’s likely candidacy for the Republican presidential nomination has focused on weighty matters such as his battles with the left, faltering forays into foreign policy and conservative stances on social issues including abortion and gun rights,” the Times story, written by Jason Horowitz, said. “But little notice has been given to an area in which he faces a different sort of constitutional challenge: overcoming his aversion to man’s best friend.”
A headline on the story originally said, “Scott Walker’s Dog Allergy Could Be a Campaign Hazard.” After publication, it was changed to, “Scott Walker, Allergic to Dogs, May Run Against Political History”
The story noted that Walker’s potential GOP 2016 rivals are all either dog owners or hopeful dog owners. Likely Democratic presidential contender Hillary Clinton is said to have a toy poodle.
In apparent earnest, Horowitz wrote in the story, “Perhaps to compensate for his difficulty, Mr. Walker has reached out to more exotic animals,” referring to Walker’s trip to a Wisconsin zoo. There the Badger State’s chief executive reportedly met a bear and a giraffe, going on to undercut labor leaders’ charges that he is cold and heartless by petting and feeding fruit juice to a kinkajou, which America’s newspaper of record terms “a small mammal often called a honey bear.”
Walker’s dog allergies are shared by 15 percent of the U.S. population, according to ABC News.
Horowitz, the story’s author, did not return a request for comment on whether he seriously thinks Walker allergies may prevent an effective run for the GOP presidential nomination.
This is not Walker’s first curious treatment from the national news media.
In February, a correction was added to New York Times columnist Gail Collins’ latest op-ed after she erroneously claimed Walker, as governor, had caused teacher layoffs in 2010. Walker did not take office until 2011.
In the same month, The Daily Beast retracted an entire column that erroneously stated Walker’s state budget would cut funding for sexual assault reporting on college campuses.
