American PBS journalist Judy Woodruff sparked controversy following a false report at the 2024 Democratic National Convention on Monday where she claimed that former president Donald Trump urged Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu not to agree to a ceasefire deal with Hamas during a phone conversation in mid-August.
"The reporting is that former President Trump is on the phone with the Prime Minister of Israel, urging him not to cut a deal right now because it’s believed it would help the Harris campaign," said Woodruff initially on Monday.
The statement Woodruff made was found to be false on two accounts. Firstly, the phone call conversation that Woodruff referred to had never taken place and was based on a false report that had circulated on news media outlets Axios and Reuters.
Additionally, the false report that circulated did not mention that Trump had urged Netanyahu to decline a ceasefire deal.
Instead, the false Axios report cited two US sources. One source said the reported call was intended to encourage Netanyahu to take the deal but stressed he did not know if this was indeed what the former president told Netanyahu.
Woodruff apologizes for her report
Following the statement she made, Woodruff shared a clarification post on X, formally Twitter, in which she said that the Trump and Netanyahu conversation she was referring to was not based on original reporting but rather on reports from Axios and Reuters.
"In the live TV moment, I repeated the story because I hadn't seen any later reports that both sides denied it. This was a mistake, and I apologize for it," the post said.
I want to clarify my remarks on the PBS News special on Monday night about the ongoing cease fire talks in the Middle East. As I said, this was not based on my original reporting; I was referring to reports I had read, in Axios and Reuters, about former President Trump having…
— Judy Woodruff (@JudyWoodruff) August 21, 2024
On Wednesday, the Prime Minister's Office categorically rejected the PBS report that claimed Trump may have urged Netanyahu to reject the recent US-advanced hostage deal proposal.