Wait, are there tapes?
January 30, 2019 11:00 PM Subscribe
Why don't people lie about what they said after an Isaac Chotiner interview?
Isaac Chotiner seems to have this super power to get people to display how idiotic they are in the course of an interview. No one I've seen has flat out denied they said the stupid things.
I can see someone like Ian Buruma (ex-editor of the NYRB) thinking "I just didn't explain myself well" and having enough integrity to just complain about being picked on by the twitter mob.
But when someone like Giuliani says he "listened to the tapes" as he did in this interview about Trump, it seems like a real screw up. Giuliani has been perfectly willing to deny saying things even when there is video of him saying it, so integrity doesn't seem to be a factor. Why hasn't Giuliani simply said "Chotiner made this up?"
1) Does Chotiner tape his interviews over the phone? This makes the most sense but I don't see why anyone would agree to be taped. (Maybe he just avoids two-party consent states?)
2) Is it the fact checker confirming quotes? Maybe they don't seem as bad outside the context of an article but I'd sure as hell walk back some statements in a hurry if someone read those back to me.
3) Do people like Giuliani just not realize how stupid they look? Does he read the interview and think he made a slick recovery?
Isaac Chotiner seems to have this super power to get people to display how idiotic they are in the course of an interview. No one I've seen has flat out denied they said the stupid things.
I can see someone like Ian Buruma (ex-editor of the NYRB) thinking "I just didn't explain myself well" and having enough integrity to just complain about being picked on by the twitter mob.
But when someone like Giuliani says he "listened to the tapes" as he did in this interview about Trump, it seems like a real screw up. Giuliani has been perfectly willing to deny saying things even when there is video of him saying it, so integrity doesn't seem to be a factor. Why hasn't Giuliani simply said "Chotiner made this up?"
1) Does Chotiner tape his interviews over the phone? This makes the most sense but I don't see why anyone would agree to be taped. (Maybe he just avoids two-party consent states?)
2) Is it the fact checker confirming quotes? Maybe they don't seem as bad outside the context of an article but I'd sure as hell walk back some statements in a hurry if someone read those back to me.
3) Do people like Giuliani just not realize how stupid they look? Does he read the interview and think he made a slick recovery?
Seconding the above - a lot of the time interviews are taped and then transcribed later, at least for press. Even if you are very good at shorthand, it's very difficult to get everything down accurately otherwise, which you need to do if there are potential legal issues down the line.
posted by mippy at 4:19 AM on January 31, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by mippy at 4:19 AM on January 31, 2019 [1 favorite]
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posted by praemunire at 11:19 PM on January 30, 2019 [1 favorite]