Talk:Mitt Romney dog incident/Diane Sawyer interview

Diane Sawyer Interview

During the Diane Sawyer interview, she says to Romney. "You said it was the most wounding thing in the campaign-- --so far.". This is repeated by a number of other sources that I could find referencing back to the story. However, I have been unable to find a source that has him actually saying that. It is not anywhere within the transcript of him saying it. He doesn't even acknowledge the statement as being true in the interview. I have made it more clear as to who made the statement per WP:MOSQUOTE. It would be nice if we could actually find the source where he is to have made this statement. Regardless, we can certainly not quote him as having said it in the DS interview unless we have a clear quote of him making the statement. Arzel (talk) 04:38, 28 April 2012 (UTC)

Debbie, this source which has the following passage. Mitt Romney told Sawyer that the Seamus attacks were the most wounding of the campaign “so far,” but Anne Romney insisted the dog loved traveling that way and looked forward to trips. Cannot be used to quote Romney because it does not contain an exact quote. To be clear, I am not saying he did not say it, we just have to be positive that he actually made that statement before quoting him. This is not something that we can budge on. Arzel (talk) 04:44, 28 April 2012 (UTC)

Arzel, You are correct that the ABC news article is a little bit unclear about the quote. What is very clear from the ABC transcripts is that Romney agreed with Diane Sawyer's comment that "it was the most wounding thing in the campaign so far." I think we can include the quote, but we need to say that 'Romney agreed' or 'Romney acknowledged', rather than 'Romney said'. I attached the text from the transcript below for everyone to see. Debbie W. 05:17, 28 April 2012 (UTC)

DIANE SAWYER: As we move away from this primary campaign into the next phase-- again, on Yahoo, we got two questions most often, first about Seamus-- which as you know is out there forever-- would you do it again?

MITT ROMNEY: Certainly not with the attention it's received.

DIANE SAWYER: You said it was the most wounding thing in the campaign--

ANN ROMNEY: It's crazy.

DIANE SAWYER:--so far.

ANN ROMNEY: The dog loved it. The dog was, like--

You still cannot use quotes to infer that he made that statement as stated. The only time you can use quotes for a person is if that person is quoted in the source as such. I agree that some of the sources imply that he agreed with Sawyer, but the primary source used for those sources does not make that explicit. My version is the most close to what the actual source says. Also, Cider's opinion is undue weight. What makes his opinion so notable? He has nothing to do with the incident other than his personal crusade against Romney. Arzel (talk) 06:01, 28 April 2012 (UTC)

Unless I'm seriously mistaken I don't see anything in what you've posted that indicates agreement unambiguously. I understand how you could conclude it, but there are other interpretations that are valid as well. If Romney didn't say it himself, and if we don't have a secondary source discussing it, it would be WP:OR at best and a WP:BLP violation at worst. SÆdon^talk 06:48, 28 April 2012 (UTC)