#Stacey Abrams’ edit job, Biden’s ‘consensus’ and more

Now you see it, now you don’t

In a since-deleted line in a column by Stacey Abrams published by USA Today, March 31, 2021: “Until we hear clear, unequivocal statements that show Georgia-based companies get what’s at stake, I can’t argue with an individual’s choice to opt for their competition.”

We say: First, Stacey Abrams, the Democrats’ 2018 nominee for governor in Georgia, “can’t argue” with those who boycott her state over its new voting-rights law. Then, after Major League Baseball pulls its All-Star Game from the state, costing it millions and sparking resentment, USA Today has her update the column, deleting that line to soften her position on boycotts. And it didn’t even let readers know via an editor’s note until weeks later.

This quote: “There’s a broad consensus of economists — left, right, center — and they agree that what I’m proposing will help create millions of jobs and generate historic economic growth.” — President Biden, in his speech to Congress on Wednesday

We say: Tell that to President Barack Obama’s top economist, Larry Summers, who warns that Biden is proposing far too much spending. Or Douglas Holtz-Eakin, a former director of the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, who flags Biden’s tax hikes as “draconian.” Fact is, many economists see Biden’s $6 trillion in spending as reckless. The only “consensus” is among left-wingers who happen to agree with him.

That’s on us

We say: We blew it! Our initial story reported that migrant kids at the border were getting copies of Vice President Kamala Harris’ children’s book, yet only one known copy of the book was given to a child. Yes, even we make mistakes. But unlike other publications, we corrected our story and admitted the goof.

Buried lede

We say: If John Kerry provided Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif with sensitive information about Israeli attacks that he himself hadn’t gotten, as Zarif claims, you’d think that would be important news. Yet the Times didn’t mention it until the 22nd paragraph of a 26-paragraph story — and devoted no more ink to it than that one sentence.

— Compiled by The Post editorial board