An ABC News weekend anchor accidentally reported that Hillary Clinton was dead on Sunday after her health scare in New York City, McClatchy reported.
"I’m Joe Torres," he said. "We begin with the breaking news about Hillary Clinton’s death."
If viewers were confused, the report then delved into Clinton’s pneumonia diagnosis that was revealed by the campaign after her widely viewed collapse as she left the 9/11 memorial that day. Clinton was seen being helped into a van, barely able to walk, and was whisked to her daughter’s New York apartment.
She emerged hours later, saying she felt much better after getting overheated at the event, but reporters covering her campaign were left in the dark for more than an hour about her whereabouts and what was wrong with her.
A spokesman for WABC said Torres simply meant to say "health" rather than death, according to McClatchy.
Torres didn’t correct himself, but the broadcast continued on to report Clinton’s health troubles at Sunday’s 9/11 memorial ceremony in New York. The Democratic presidential candidate was dehydrated standing outside on the hot day, her campaign said, and video taken of her leaving the site early showed her needing assistance to get into a van.
The station told TVSpy that the mistake was accidental.
"During a live introduction to a story about the health of Hillary Clinton, Joe Torres inadvertently said ‘death’ when he meant to say ‘health.’" a station spokesperson said. "It was clear from the context of the story, the reporters’ information and graphics on the screen that Secretary Clinton was alive and recovering."