Never mind

Timothy McNulty | July 28, 2009

News Alert!!!!

A Philadelphia TV station led off its noon news today by saying Arlen Specter is going through chemotherapy again . . . except he's not.

Specter acutally said -- at the Sotomayor committee vote today -- that his eyes were watery due to previous chemo. (This has happened to him before -- he mentioned the same thing at a Pittsburgh news conference I covered earlier this month, and sure enough, he had to dab away tears two or three times while speaking.)

Here's a blog post from the Inquirer:

A mention by U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter about undergoing chemotherapy treatment today inadvertantly created the impression he was receiving treatment again, leading the noon newscast of WPVI-TV in Philadelphia..

At a Judiciary Committee hearing at which it approved Sonia Sotomayor's nomination to the Supreme Court, Specter said he had watery eyes due to chemotherapy.

He went on to say that he was "not infirm in any way" and was going ahead with plans to seek re-election.

His office said the chemotherapy in question was last year. WPVI corrected its newscast.


Posted Jul 28 2009, 02:10 PM by Timothy McNulty