George Stephanopoulos Offers On-Air Apology

George Stephanopoulos

After coming under heavy criticism for donating $75,000 to the foundation of Bill and Hillary Clinton, George Stephanopoulos on Friday made an on-air apology.

Addressing the revelation that he failed to inform viewers or his bosses at ABC, Stephanopoulos conceded on Good Morning America, "I should have made additional disclosures on air when we covered the foundation and I now believe directing personal donations to that foundation was a mistake."  The former Bill Clinton operative spun the donations, saying, "Even though I made them strictly to support work done to stop the spread of AIDS, help children and protect the environment in poor countries, I should have gone the extra mile to avoid even the appearance of a conflict." He added, "I apologize to all of you for failing to do that."

Continuing with the self-serving retelling, the co-host insisted, "I have made substantial donations to dozens of charities, including the Clinton Global Foundation. Those donations were a matter of public record."

     
According to Newsbusters, Stephanopoulos's claim that he only gave money with the intention of helping is at odds with what he told Jon Stewart on the April 28 Daily Show. Then, when the donations weren't known to the general public, he frankly admitted, "But everybody also knows when those donors give that money, President Clinton or someone, they get a picture with him. There is a hope that is going to lead to something."

Erik Wemple of the Washington Post commented on his blog Friday the failure to disclose "are generating a world of trouble for ABC News".

"First, he erred in judgment by making contributions to a charity headed by the country’s premier Democratic family. Second, he committed the evasion of failing to disclose the contributions just when they took on relevance."