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North Carolina Governor Campaign Planted Questions at Event
Source: Associated Press
North Carolina Governor Campaign Planted Questions at Event
By TOM FOREMAN JR. AND GARY D. ROBERTSON, ASSOCIATED PRESS CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Sep 20, 2016, 5:53 PM ET
Immersed in an intense re-election campaign and besieged for a law about transgender people and restrooms, North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory answered questions last week before Charlotte's small business community. The written questions were supposedly from audience members and a newspaper.
"Anything you like. No filter here," McCrory told the event moderator at the start of the Q-and-A, according to The Charlotte Observer.
Turns out, the three questions identified as from the Observer actually came from McCrory's campaign. The newspaper knew nothing about them. The planted questions generally were favorable to the Republican incumbent and opened the door for him to criticize his opponent, Democratic Attorney General Roy Cooper.
Editorial Page Editor Taylor Batten attended the event and said Tuesday after hearing the first question, "I knew that hadn't come from me." Later, two other Observer reporters who were there told him the same thing, raising suspicions about the questions.
When Batten did try to ask a question, McCrory responded: "We've got three Observer questions answered already. I think you guys dominate the news enough." The governor moved on.
[font size=1]-snip-[/font]
By TOM FOREMAN JR. AND GARY D. ROBERTSON, ASSOCIATED PRESS CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Sep 20, 2016, 5:53 PM ET
Immersed in an intense re-election campaign and besieged for a law about transgender people and restrooms, North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory answered questions last week before Charlotte's small business community. The written questions were supposedly from audience members and a newspaper.
"Anything you like. No filter here," McCrory told the event moderator at the start of the Q-and-A, according to The Charlotte Observer.
Turns out, the three questions identified as from the Observer actually came from McCrory's campaign. The newspaper knew nothing about them. The planted questions generally were favorable to the Republican incumbent and opened the door for him to criticize his opponent, Democratic Attorney General Roy Cooper.
Editorial Page Editor Taylor Batten attended the event and said Tuesday after hearing the first question, "I knew that hadn't come from me." Later, two other Observer reporters who were there told him the same thing, raising suspicions about the questions.
When Batten did try to ask a question, McCrory responded: "We've got three Observer questions answered already. I think you guys dominate the news enough." The governor moved on.
[font size=1]-snip-[/font]
Read more: http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory/north-carolina-governor-campaign-planted-questions-event-42230419
