At the beginning of this month, Rachel Maddow caught Rick Santorum making a false statement about the teaching of U.S. history at University of California schools. A few days later she raised the matter with Santorum campaign senior strategist John Brabender, only to learn shortly thereafter that Mr. Santorum was even more wrong than initially thought. Mr. Brabender had said that if Mr. Santorum was wrong, he'd surely issue a correction, but when Mr. Santorum got around to apologizing this week, it was for calling President Obama a snob for advocating higher education opportunities for all Americans, no mention of the University of California error.
This afternoon we received a note from Rick Santorum, addressing Rachel directly, admitting his error and offering a correction:
Rachel, on a recent show you discussed a statement I made that American history was not being taught at a number of California state universities. You questioned the accuracy of my statement. Based upon your broadcast I went back and reviewed the facts. It's clear that my memory about what was taught was faulty. What I should have said was that none of the UC campuses teach a survey course in Western Civilization. Rachel, I appreciate your efforts pointing out my misstatement, and for giving me the opportunity to set the record straight. Rick Santorum
Satisfied? More on this on tonight's show.