Sun Corbyn And Obama Fail

[Update at end of post]

With Barack Obama visiting London, and meeting the people who really mattered, like Her Maj and Young Dave, the Sun’s non-bullying political editor Tom Newton Dunn sensed an opportunity to fulfil the dictates of Creepy Uncle Rupe and use the occasion to put the boot into Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, because, well, it’s probably in his job description.

Wrong again, Tom. Never mind, eh?

Claiming an “exclusive”, for reasons soon to become apparent, he told readers “BARACK Obama has no interest in meeting Jeremy Corbyn in London this week and never offered him a slot in his schedule, The Sun can reveal … One of the Labour leader’s aides had said he is weighing up whether to see the President on Saturday during his farewell three-day trip to Britain before stepping down next January … That sparked the suggestion left-wing Mr Corbyn may snub the chance of talks with the leader of the free world”.

Really? Do go on. “But it has now emerged that the White House had long ago dismissed approaching Mr Corbyn, who has been a bitter critic of US foreign policy for decades - revealing it is the Labour boss who faces being snubbed … The revelation is an embarrassment to Mr Corbyn’s office and casts doubt on at least one member of staff’s claims … A US administration source has told The Sun: ‘Don’t expect to see a meeting with Jeremy Corbyn on the president’s itinerary any time soon’”.

So sure was The Great Man of his ground that he took to Twitter to confirm “Excl: Obama doesn't want to meet Jeremy Corbyn this week and has never offered him a slot”. Well, that was on Tuesday, but by yesterday, it was clear that the only reason Newton Dunn’s story was “exclusive” was because it was totally wrong.

BBC Political Editor Laura Kuenssberg, apparently surprised at the news she was relaying - there’s that lobby mentality coming through again - told her Twitter followers that “Obama WILL meet Corbyn after all, tomorrow”. Yes, the Sun had called it wrong.

As the Guardian - rather more reliable in such matters - has noted, “Jeremy Corbyn met Barack Obama on Saturday and discussed issues including the power of multinational corporations and the need for action on inequality. The Labour leader said he had enjoyed his face-to-face meeting with the US president at the Royal Horticultural Halls in London on Saturday afternoon, after days of uncertainty over whether they would meet”.

That would be “uncertainty”, as in one of Rupert Murdoch’s boot boys giving the rest of the lobby a bum steer in order to put the boot into Corbyn and Labour. The Sun used to pull a similar trick in the days of Neil Kinnock’s leadership, and Trevor Kavanagh, its political editor from those days, is still on hand to ensure his successor throws the full range of dead cats on the table in order to cause maximum distraction.

So what has the Sun said about the meeting between Corbyn and Obama? Simples. It just hasn’t reported it. Fingers in ears, La La La, they can’t hear you. No change there, then.

[UPDATE 1755 hours: our friends at @TheMurdochTimes have confirmed that Newton Dunn's story is just another steaming pile of Baby Shard bullpucky by confirming with White House media representatives - the kinds of people who it might be expected that the Sun's political editor and the rest of the lobby would consult before rushing into print - that the Sun was wrong all along

As they have told, "we sent @tnewtondunn's claimed White House quotes to WH media rep. Response:: 'No-one said that. The meeting was scheduled'". That means the Sun made up the story in order to kick Corbyn, and any other member of the lobby taken in by it ought to hang their head in shame (the Sun, of course, would not participate in such activity, as its hacks have no shame). No surprise there, indeed]