North Triangle News

The press office of Senate Leader Phil Berger (R-Rockingham) claims WRAL recently wrote about a statement from Berger that he never actually made.

According to an article on the official Medium account for Berger’s press office, a March 30 editorial by WRAL said Berger had a statement demanding that a stay-at-home shouldn’t be issued.

Berger’s office said the state senator didn’t make a demand or even mention a stay-at-home order in the statement that WRAL was referring to in its editorial. Berger did say “government leaders are making decisions without the benefit of relevant and obtainable data," according to the Medium statement on April 9.  

Berger’s office said it requested a correction alleges WRAL told the office that anyone could infer, based on the timing of Berger’s statement, that he intended to say that Gov. Roy Cooper should not have issued the stay-at-home order. 

In the Medium statement, Sen. Bill Rabon (R-Brunswick) expressed his disappointment with WRAL's reporting. 

“WRAL invented a quote out of thin air and then falsely claimed Sen. Berger said it,” Rabon said in the Medium article. “Their excuse for doing so just doesn’t hold water. It’s disappointing to see this type of behavior from a news outlet. Making up quotes undermines the entire organization’s legitimacy and credibility.”