Daily Caller Significantly Misquotes Mazie Hirono in Viral Tweet, Falsely Claims She Said Climate Change is ‘Not Science’ but ‘Religion’

by dap | Nov 12, 2019 | Mediate, News, The Daily Caller

Conservative website The Daily Caller deliberately misquoted Senator Mazie Hirono (D-HI), falsely claiming she said that climate change is “not science” but a “religion,” when the source for their tweet contained the correct quote.

During a DACA prayer breakfast Tuesday morning, Senator Hirono urged the audience to get people out to vote so that “we can have people here that are truly committed to human rights, environmental rights, climate change, believe in climate change as though it’s a religion — it’s not, it’s science — and all the things that remain to be done, and there is a lot.”

That clip was tweeted by Grabien Media founder Tom Elliott with an accurate transcription.

“At today’s DACA prayer breakfast, Sen. @maziehirono says we need activists ‘committed to human rights and environmental rights, climate change — believe in climate change as though it’s a religion (it’s not it’s science).’” Elliott tweeted.

At today’s DACA prayer breakfast, Sen. @maziehirono says we need activists “committed to human rights and environmental rights, climate change — believe in climate change as though it’s a religion (it’s not it’s science).” pic.twitter.com/0j7IU6apcP

— Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) November 12, 2019

But The Daily Caller then embedded that exact clip, from Elliott’s tweet, with a quote that conveyed the exact opposite.

“‘Believe in climate change as though it’s a religion and not a science’ – Mazie Hirono” the site tweeted.

“Believe in climate change as though it’s a religion and not a science” – Mazie Hirono pic.twitter.com/VkRDGr2rUn

— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) November 12, 2019

Elliott’s tweet got a handful of retweets (24 as of this writing), while the Daily Caller’s false tweet quickly went viral, racking up ten times as many as Elliott’s in less than an hour.

Watch the clip above, via C-Span.