Another politician has fallen to an age-old nemesis: satire. Time reports the victim this occasion is former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley, who cited an article by the satirical website The Daily Currant.
On Thursday, the Democratic presidential hopeful released a white paper on financial regulations. The policy paper was intended to showcase his progressive bonafides as he struggles to grab attention away from Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton.
Bloomberg’s Phil Mattingly first observed that O’Malley’s very first footnote was a fake news story from September 2014 titled "Eric Holder Takes $77 Million Job With JPMorgan Chase" from the fake news website that rivals The Onion.
The first footnote in @MartinOMalley's Wall Street white paper actually sources to a satirical news story/site pic.twitter.com/trnYrmi3JS
— Phil Mattingly (@Phil_Mattingly) July 9, 2015
O’Malley used the fake story to condemn the revolving door between D.C. and Wall Street. The campaign’s mistake is only worsened by the fact Eric Holder remained in office well beyond September 2014, only being replaced by Loretta Lynch a couple months ago.
The error could have been easily avoided. The Daily Currant does not attempt to hide its satire. A Google search of "Daily Currant" could have helped campaign staff identify the pitfall leading to humiliation.
With headlines including "Saudi Arabia Seriously Considering Allowing Women to Use Forks" and "ESPN Names Rachel Dolezal ‘Black Athlete of the Year,’" even a fresh campaign intern could have identified a problem with a presidential candidate using the site to back up an important argument.
In one story titled "Confederate Flag Kills 7 At Alabama Shopping Mall," the Daily Currant suggests the Confederate flag debate has led to catastrophic repercussions.
"Seven people were killed this morning when a Confederate flag walked into an Alabama shopping mall and started shooting.
"According to local reports, the flag entered Cherrywood Mall outside Huntsville armed with two AK-47 assault rifles, a P 228 handgun and several grenades. It immediately proceeded to unload its ordinance on unsuspecting shoppers."
The O’Malley campaign’s explanation for the blunder is even more puzzling.
"Errant footnotes are just a small side effect of putting out the most comprehensive policy paper of any 2016’er on Wall Street," O’Malley spokeswoman Lis Smith said in a statement.
So the O’Malley campaign believes it was doing such a thorough job in providing "the most comprehensive paper" that they used made up stories.
The gaffe has since gone viral. O’Malley has finally gotten the attention his campaign so desperately needed, but for all the wrong reasons.