Newspaper says GOP candidate Cresent Hardy’s comments misconstrued

By Kyle Roerink

Thursday, Sept. 25, 2014 | 11:56 a.m.

Republican Cresent Hardy’s comments about women, minorities and young voters were misconstrued and inaccurately portrayed, according to the newspaper that originally ran a story that had the congressional candidate blaming those groups for problems in the U.S.

The politician’s name has been front and center among Nevada media this week. The comments, as reported, have caused a firestorm for his campaign.

The Desert Valley Times online story that appears now is much different from its original.

The Mesquite paper added a clarifying paragraph, changed the headline and altered the beginning of the story to reflect Hardy’s true comments.

“The altered story is the one that should stand,” said Desert Valley Times Editor Mike Donahue.

The story also appears on the website of The Spectrum of St. George, Utah, which shares content with the Desert Valley Times.

Desert Valley Times staff is meeting with Hardy today to talk about the incident. What Hardy says during the meeting will “run on page one,” Donahue said.

The controversy began last Thursday when Hardy hosted a meet-and-greet for his campaign in the 4th Congressional District and said that women, minorities and young voters were the reason President Barack Obama was elected to office. The Desert Valley Times story went on to inaccurately report that Hardy blamed those voters for problems in the U.S.

Hardy’s misconstrued comments quickly spread among Nevada media Tuesday, and his campaign worked to amend the inaccurate reporting.

Hardy released a statement to the Las Vegas Sun on Tuesday that said his comments were about the “recognition that a large number of Obama voters are not turning to Republican and Independent candidates.”

But Hardy became the object of viral reporting in the Internet age. He faced more public scorn on Wednesday after footage from the same campaign event showed Hardy channeling presidential candidate Mitt Romney’s comments about 47 percent of American voters being dependent on government.

“The 47 percent is true. It’s bigger now,” he said.

National media jumped on the story, and the state’s Democrats also took shots.

“Mitt Romney was wrong two years ago about 47 percent of the American people being ‘freeloaders,’ and Cresent Hardy is just as wrong now,” Nevada State Democratic Party spokesman Zach Hudson said in a statement Tuesday. “Hardy’s comments only further highlight what we already knew: he supports the same failed Republican policies Mitt Romney ran on.”

Hardy is running against Democratic incumbent Steven Horsford for the district that represents urban Las Vegas and rural parts of the state. The general election is on Nov. 4.