Stage collapses around Carly Fiorina
Former Hewlett Packard CEO Carly Fiorina has taken heat from fact-checkers and critics over one of her most memorable lines from the second Republican presidential debate.
As previously reported, Planned Parenthood supporters chanted and pitched condoms at Fiorina at the University of Iowa tailgate party in Iowa City Saturday, but Fiorina was unfazed.
Fiorina returned to the podium, which pumped up the crowd: “Everybody all right?” Its heart beating. Its legs kicking.
And in a testy exchange with host Chuck Todd, Fiorina repeatedly insisted that the practice she described “is happening”.
“No, not at all. That is patently false”, Fiorina said. “The people that made the videos admit it’s stock footage”. At the center of the political impasse are secretly recorded video tapes released online by the anti-abortion group, Center for Medical Progress. “And not only that, not only are taxpayers having to fund this butchery, but Planned Parenthood doles out millions of dollars every single election cycle to Democratic candidates”, she said. The organization, however, vehemently denies this, and has said the videos are highly edited to obfuscate the truth.
Fiorina dismissed the Washington Post, noting their fact-checker recently raised doubts about her career trajectory.
Fiorina is one of the star risers of the Republican race, with voters eschewing the established political candidates in favor of those with backgrounds outside Captiol Hill.
Fiorina continued to answer questions after the incident. “Let them explain it”, she said.