Posted on 12/24/2004 12:25:49 PM PST by LouAvul
BERLIN (AP) - A German reporter who interviewed California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger says the governor did not say the Republican Party should "move a little further left" as his newspaper reported.
What Schwarzenegger said in the interview with Sueddeutsche Zeitung was that the Republicans reach "all the way from the right to the center" and "I'd like the Republican Party to cross that center line," according to a transcript released Thursday by the governor's office.
But reporter Marc Hujer said Schwarzenegger never talked explicitly about a need for the party to edge toward the left, even though the remark appeared as part of the interview in the Munich paper last Saturday.
Hujer, who interviewed Schwarzenegger in English, said he added that wording to interpret Schwarzenegger's remarks for readers.
"He did not use the word 'left,'" Hujer said by telephone Thursday from Washington. "This is really unfortunate. I was trying to translate into German political terms."
A spokesman for Schwarzenegger's office said Friday the governor would have no comment.
The remark Schwarzenegger never made caused a buzz in California, where Sacramento Bee columnist Dan Walters cited it as an example of how an inaccuracy can snowball politically.
Fox News picked up on Schwarzenegger's remarks, and conservative groups attacked him for allegedly saying the Republicans should move to the left and embrace gay marriage and abortion rights, Walters reported.
The interview never mentioned gay marriage or abortion rights. Schwarzenegger did suggest that the Republican Party reach out to centrist voters, according to the transcript.
(Excerpt) Read more at modbee.com ...
Cross the center=reach out to conservative democrats.
I use to work with a German girl ... we had to be careful with words because the translation between American English and the Oxford English she learned in Germany are no the same
Gasp! An honest reporter!
Very interesting, thanks for the ping.
Aaah. How veddy interesting :-)
The Merriest of Christmases to you and your family, Mo1.
ROFL. That's Rather normal, isn't it?
Merry Christmas, DoughtyOne! :-)
Thanks CalCowGirl. Merrrrrrrry Christmas to you and your family too.
Just heard about this on Fox Special Report.
After all the postings, hysteria and idiotically snide comments about the erroneous first reports of what he (didn't) say, I thought I'd bump the correction.
What the reporter says Schwarzenegger said, per Jim Angle, was "The Republican party should stay where it's at".
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.