National Review reporter John Fund apologized on Monday for accusing Brett Kavanaugh’s second accuser, Deborah Ramirez, of being secretly funded by Democratic donor George Soros, telling his audience on Twitter that he has mistaken her for a different Deborah Ramirez.
“Correction: Soros Fellowship went to another Deborah Ramirez in Boston, a professor at Northeastern University. Sincere apologies,” said Fund, who deleted the original tweet after coming in for a round of criticism over the error.
Correction: Soros Fellowship went to another Deborah Ramirez in Boston, a professor at Northeastern University. Sincere apologies.
In a screenshot taken by CNN reporter Andrew Kaczynski, Fund attempted to link Ramirez to a Soros fellowship from 2003.
“Irony of this is just too great,” he wrote. “New Yorker article on new Kavanaugh accuser, Deborah Ramirez, leaves out tie to George Soros. Ramirez got 2003 Soros Justice Fellowship to strengthen understanding between law enforcement and Arab Muslim and Sikh communities.”
National Review columnist John Fund is offering "sincere apologies" for spreading false information about Kavanaugh accuser Deborah Ramirez.
Last week, a number of false claims spread through RW media about Christine Blasey Ford, misidentifying her w/a women of the same name. pic.twitter.com/UycpC85Muf
Fund serves as a national-affairs reporter for the conservative magazine. Editor in chief Rich Lowry did not immediately respond to request for comment from TheWrap.
It’s not the first time conservative media found itself with egg on its face over false accusations about women accusing Judge Kavanaugh of sexual misconduct.
As Kaczynski alluded, Christine Blasey Ford was also the victim of mistaken identity last week after the video monitoring website Grabien ran a piece saying that Ford’s students at Palo Alto University had written unfavorable comments about her on the website “RateMyProfessor.” The claim was picked up by the Drudge Report and widely shared before new emerged that Grabien accidentally dug up reviews belonging to Christine Adams Ford, who teaches at California State University in Fullerton.
Both Ford and Ramirez have publicly accused Judge Brett Kavanaugh of sexual misconduct more than three decades ago and have demanded FBI investigations into their claims. The judge has categorically denied both allegations.
After a series of dramatic negotiations with the Senate Judiciary committee, Professor Ford agreed to offer her testimony on Thursday. It is unclear whether Ramirez will also be called before the committee.
Mike Cernovich, a Timeline: From Choking Advice to Pizzagate to Firings (Photos)
Maybe you'd never heard of right-wing provocateur Mike Cernovich before last week, when he helped get James Gunn fired from the next "Guardians of the Galaxy" film by highlighting Gunn's old Twitter jokes about rape and pedophilia. But Cernovich himself has a long history online, filled with both successes and statements he has since distanced himself from -- for reasons that will be obvious.
Advice on Choking Women
Before gaining fame as a Trump superfan, Cernovich got his start in the men's rights and pick-up artist community. His advice column, published on his blog "Danger and Play," included suggestions on the proper way to "choke" women during sex. This entry from December 2011 has since been deleted: "Choking works because it’s a show of dominance. Women only want to have consensual sex with men they know could rape them."
Pizzagate
Cernovich first came to wide public attention over his promotion of a conspiracy theory during the 2016 election that suggested that a pedophile ring was being run out of the basement of a Washington, D.C. pizzeria. The story was bunk, and Cernovich has moved to distance himself from Pizzagate.
Will Sommer/Twitter
John Conyers
Cernovich's biggest score of all probably wasn't James Gunn, but John Conyers. A tip provided by Cernovich to BuzzFeed about accusations of sexual misconduct forced the Democrat to resign his seat in disgrace in December 2017.
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Sam Seder
Mike Cernovich targeted the MSNBC contributor over a years-old joke about his daughter being raped. MSNBC dropped Seder in December 2017, but reinstated him after a public backlash.
MSNBC
Sopan Deb
Cernovich went after New York Times reporter Sopan Deb in March 2017 over a tweeted pun about the rapper Bow Wow. The incident earned Deb an official rebuke from the Times' then-public editor, Liz Spayd.
Josh Barro
In November 2017, Cernovich demanded an apology from Josh Barro after the Business Insider Senior Editor made fun of his lisp. Barro swiftly retreated.
Twitter
Perry Fein
In June 2018, Los Angeles Times freelancer Perry Fein slipped into Cernovich's DMs and wished harm upon him. His relationship with the newspaper was over just hours later.
Los Angeles Times Media Group
James Gunn
Last week, Cernovich helped lead an online campaign highlighting old tweets in which Gunn joked about rape about pedophilia. Gunn offered an apology, but was dropped by Disney from the "Guardians of the Galaxy" franchise.
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Cheri Jacobus
Before the James Gunn situation, Cernovich also led a brief and successful campaign to pressure USA Today to drop columnist Cheri Jacobus. The decision from the paper came after Jacobus' bizarre comments about convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
Michael Ian Black
Cernovich has trained his fire on comedian Michael Ian Black, who has said several times on Twitter that his tweets about pedophilia were only jokes.
YouTube
Dan Harmon
Fresh off his victory in ousting Gunn from "Guardians of the Galaxy," Cernovich forced "Rick and Morty" co-creator Dan Harmon and his employers at Adult Swim to apologize over an old sketch that featured Harmon graphically simulating the rape of a baby. (The sketch used a doll, not an actual baby.)
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The right-wing provocateur has become a thorn to liberals online
Maybe you'd never heard of right-wing provocateur Mike Cernovich before last week, when he helped get James Gunn fired from the next "Guardians of the Galaxy" film by highlighting Gunn's old Twitter jokes about rape and pedophilia. But Cernovich himself has a long history online, filled with both successes and statements he has since distanced himself from -- for reasons that will be obvious.